Intrepid Explorations
by BakaGrappler
Summary: A dramatized play through of Etrian Odyssey 3 with a fully characterized cast.  The enhanced narrative of the third game inspired this story, with the desire to make a not so veiled connection with the previous games.  Contains violence, but no smut.
1. Prologue

_**~Prologue**_

Emperor 1

As Xander, the young, long blond haired noble with pale eyes, steps into the open air Explorer's Guild of the island nation of Armoroad, he is hailed by the person who appears to be the master of the place. The dark skinned man gives what seems like a canned, overly used, and possibly insincere welcome before handing the young man a pile of papers and telling him to fill them out. After being herded off to the far end of the room, Xander and his two companions begin their discussion even as the Guildmaster welcomes another new arrival.

The documents seem to be simple registration forms and take little time to fill out for the three, the only matter causing pause being what to name the new Guild. Xander intended to follow in his father's footsteps, and that did not include serving under another man's leadership. After much deliberation, and several discounted suggestions from the overly energetic member of the trio, Xander makes his decision. Taking the name from one of the dead languages that the kingdom's Minister insisted he learn, since he personally owned so many books that were written in it, the name meaning "Justice."

"Aequitas, huh…?" says the Guildmaster, looking at the registration forms, "An odd name, but I like it. Well then, step two is registering explorers in your guild."

As the flashily dressed Guildmaster says that, he turns over the first page of the small bundle of forms that had just recently been turned over to his possession, where he stops and reads aloud Xander's Classification as written on the sheet.

"First Son…mumble…Duchy of…"

With a look of uncaring ease the Guildmaster takes a pen to scratch out the words and writes the careless classification of Prince as he says the word aloud. This casual disregard for her lord's status causes the guard Sarah to visibly darken and ask how the Guildmaster could possibly be so disrespectful of her master. Xander was certain that if the overly serious Sarah had been armed with anything more than a traveler's dagger she would have bared the weapon in her indignance.

With a placating reply the Guildmaster says, "Calm down, miss. The young man's a noble right? We've had more than a few come into town, all of them with grand titles and lineages. Unless we group them all together by the name of Prince and Princess the paperwork becomes impossible. It's just clerical work, understand?"

Although still a little miffed, Sarah calms herself at the explanation, having had to enforce laws and rules back in the group's hometown before volunteering to be Xander's escort and bodyguard on this expedition. Though Sarah would have exploded with rage if she knew the Guildmaster's _actual_ regard for all the petulant third, fourth, or lower children of nobles, not including the ones born from mistresses, that have come through his office hoping to prove themselves worthy of some form of social standing in their home circles. Or at how often he sees them leave Armoroad beaten by the Labyrinth with their tails between their legs.

The Guildmaster flips to the next page and reads the class description of the Labyrinth Guard, Sarah, the tan blue eyed blond who's only signs of femininity aside from her anatomy are the ribbon bound twin pigtails she wears, the only fashionable indulgence she allows herself. She is a shining example of the new training methods adopted from the explorers who had not only conquered the Labyrinth in their home nation, but forged peace between the humans and the natives that dwelled within. While gifted in fighting and defending, she was stone faced and always serious. Even though she always put the wellbeing of others over her own, it's hard for others to get along with her without making an effort.

The Guildmaster speaks with a somewhat tired tone to Sarah as he explains that listing her as a Guard would cause confusion, since Armoroad has its own Guard, and that since she's listed her weaponry as a shield and spear he'll classify her as a Hoplite. Sarah was able to cope with this downgrade in her status with some soothing words from Xander and their third companion.

Looking at the final submission in the stack, the Guildmaster looks up to quickly study the final member of the recently immigrated group, a young woman wearing a lavender mini-skirted kimono, loaded with leather pouches on her belt. Her leggings and long scarf are a deeper shade of purple. Her eyes are green and her brown hair is cut neatly at jaw length, with a fox mask tilted over on one side of her head without covering her face. She seems much less picky than the other one, and slightly nervous, so the Guildmaster doesn't feel the need to handle her lightly.

"Your name's Yuriko, and you're a Ninja? Okay, you lot are done."

"Wait a second," exclaims Sarah, "You made us change our classes to suit yourself, but you just gloss right over the fact that she's a ninja!"

"I'm not sure where you come from," Xander could see Sarah fighting the urge to say that it's written right on her registration form, just below her job as a Labyrinth Guard, "But one of the trade routs Armoroad still has intact is with a nation the Ninja hail from. They're pretty common around here."

Xander and Sarah both goggle for a moment at that, whereas Yuriko squeaks with excitement and exclaims, "You mean I can meet other ninja again? Yahoo!"

It's genuine excitement on her part since her kind are a rarity back home. She arrived in Xander's hometown some years ago after being sent to live with her older cousin, Ayame, who works as a Ronin in the guild that conquered the Labyrinth, and stayed on as an apprentice in the guild. She was eventually tasked with being a permanent bodyguard to Xander. Though an up and coming Ninja, her overly excitable nature ends up causing many problems, combine that with her natural simplicity and a great many accidents and misunderstandings occur around her. Though you wouldn't know to look at her under normal conditions, she is unnervingly focused in battle, having been taken under the wing of the guild's Survivalist, Minerva, to hone her agility and accuracy while extinguishing any squeamishness she once had at seeing blood. Xander has seen few sights more disturbing than Yuriko wearing her pure smile after being drenched in the arterial spray of a beast she just slew.

"So, it's just you three?" inquires the Guildmaster with a little bit of concerned suspicion.

"For the moment, yes," says Xander in reply, "But we're hoping to hire some locals to join us. Do you have any registered explorers who are not signed up with a guild right now?"

The Guildmaster smiles covertly, as if pleased that the kid isn't as dumb as he feared and replied in the affirmative, and asked what kind of companions he was looking for. On the ship during the crossing of the sea Xander had heard of the pistol and sword wielding Buccaneers. What he had heard reminded him of the elite Gunners he had grown up around, and so Xander made an inquiry about them with the Guildmaster. The dark skinned man didn't even have a chance to reply before a loud "HA!" interrupted them. Instinctively turning to look at the voice both men see a tanned, long red haired woman who was nearly bare from the waist up but for a slender red top that could have been classified as a bra. The woman continues in a cocky voice that would have been at home in a seedy bar, especially with her somewhat crude choice of words.

"You want one a them damn sea louses? A buccaneer only knows how to charge in after someone else has done all the work FOR them. You said you heard about them pistols, right, so you want a marksman. Well, look no further than me, kid, cause I'm the best around!"

The unidentified woman spreads her stance, plants a fist against her noticeable chest, and lifts her chin up in a self important pose.

Turning back to the Guildmaster, Xander quietly inquires, "Who is that?" to which the stranger softly exclaims the sound "Oi!" in irritation at being ignored.

"That's Sonia, an Arbalist. They use giant crossbows. As for being the best around…well she's probably right about that. They don't come much more skilled than her."

"Then why is she apparently unemployed," asks Sarah pointedly, as Yuriko blushes at all the bare skin the new arrival has exposed.

The Guild master gives a slightly embarrassed smile as he fingers his cheek, partially tracing the scar running from one side of his face to the other. "Well, it's just that most of the guilds aren't willing to put up with her personality. She's been coming in here every day for the past week looking for a sucker."

"I'm just tryin' to get ya to do yer damn job, ya slacker!"

"Sonia, if you are an Arbalist, then where is your weapon?" inquires Xander after having had the chance to study the woman for a moment.

Sonia looks slightly exasperated with a "Damn, he noticed" kind of look on her face before plucking up her cocky smile again and responding with, "Well, that's kinda the reason I'm lookin' for work. I sorta lost it in a bet. But hey, just buy one I can use and you got the best bow-woman in the city workin' wit'cha. Don't that sound like a bargain?"

Sarah suggests against the recruitment, while Yuriko is still making "Awawawa" noises from the bared flesh. The Guildmaster states that as the leader of the Guild, the decision is all up to Xander. Even with all the damning testimony and evidence against her, Sonia is still showing a cocky smile, as if it would be Xander's loss if she were refused.

"We'll take her." states Xander emphatically.

The Guildmaster asks if he's serious in a stunned manner. He must have thought the woman unemployable. But something about the woman's confidence swayed Xander's opinion. There was only one person he'd known before that had that kind of unrelenting confidence against all reason. Uncle Gyver, the Landsknecht that worked in the guild with his father. The man was mindlessly confident in everything he did with a giant grin on his face, but only because he was able to follow through with his every action, and no one could surpass his ability with an axe. That is why Xander knew that Sonia wasn't really cocky, she was just wholly confidant in her abilities, and Xander was willing to gamble that those abilities are as fine as she claimed.

With much excitement, Sonia went around and introduced herself properly to everyone stating that the guild would never regret hiring her. Meanwhile the Guildmaster slides a different recruitment form over to Xander while remarking the small print defining all weapons, armor, and items purchased using money obtained by the guild as guild property and any private sale was outlawed. Sonia's indignant "Oi!" quickly followed.

With the party quickly filling up, Xander reflects on what his father told him when he was younger, when Xander asked why he didn't take more people into the Labyrinth with him. "It's because of the corridors, son" he replied, "The halls in that place can only allow a small party to move freely. Any more than five people and you get in each other's way. Remember, son, five is the most you can safely take into that dangerous place."

On deep reflection, Xander understood what was needed for the final role in their party. They need a healer. On stating this fact to the others, Sonia told him that she had just the person in mind and quickly took him out of the Explorer's Guild hall and into the street. After leaving the building, Xander faintly hears the Guildmaster greet another adventurer with the exact same speech that he'd heard on his own arrival.

A short time later the party arrives at a modest temple where they find several Monks doing martial exercises where one man in particular stands out. Shirtless, white haired, and bald on top, the man sweats from concentration before a stone braced by the earth. After a few entrancing moments he strikes out with his bare fist and the stone shatters against his knuckles.

"Whooaaa! You weren't fibbing when you said you know the right person, Sonia." says Yuriko in awe.

"Who, the old man? Nah, you don't want him. He's a fighter, not a healer. And besides, he's a long winded old fart that'll bore you to death before the critters in the Labyrinth can even get to ya. This is who I told you about."

Upon being hailed, another young woman pads up to the party and is warmly greeted by Sonia. Exchanging a few words, the situation is explained. The young lady has blue eyes and very long red hair tied into a braid, a red top, orange robe, and baggy black pants. The woman is noticeably slim with a very understated chest, so that if her fair skinned face were not so feminine she could be mistaken for a boy if one didn't look closely. In fact her voice was just husky enough to be a sound a boy could conceivably make, though still clearly female.

"So you guys picked up Sonia?" inquires the young lady. After receiving an affirmative in response she introduces herself as Lin Zhao Han, but prefers to be called Lin.

Sonia explains a bit about the temple, and how most of its money comes from having its members work as explorers in the Labyrinth. The guilds get manpower, and the Monks are able to eat while improving their techniques. Lin is one of the accredited acolytes, allowed to be hired out to explorers and adventurers.

"I specialize in Qi healing and pressure points, they teach it over in the side temple," Lin indicates with a thumb and a cheerful lopsided smile, "but I still know how to hold my own in a fight. If Sonia vouches for you, then that's good enough for me. Here's hoping you'll make it past the first floor."

"Why wouldn't we get past the first floor?" inquires Sarah with her usual lack of humor.

"Oh, you'll see." Lin replies and follows with a sincere laugh that makes Xander warm to her as a companion.

"I'm looking forward to working with you, Lin. Let's go back to the Guild Hall and finish the registration with…" Xander pauses. He never caught the Guildmaster's name. Ah well, he'll ask him later. "With the Guildmaster and then we can gear up."

As the party walks through the streets of Armoroad, and as the glow of a complete party begins to fade, a thought begins to worm its way into Xander's mind. He's just formed a party consisting only of women around him. Should he be concerned about this at all, even though he just hired the right people for the task ahead? Well, as long as he stays a gentleman nothing should go wrong…right?

_**End Prologue**_


	2. Chapter 1

_**~Chapter 1**_

_Exploration Journal of Aequitas' Guild Leader, Xander ~ Prince_

_Day 1 - Emperor 1st._

_Entry 1:_

_After confirming all the members of the guild with the Guildmaster we delivered our belongings to Amon's Inn, one of the more reputable establishments that caters to the housing and care of the city's explorers. While our luggage should be safe here, I am a little off put by the instant and undeserved respect of the cheerful girl that works and lives here. She must really look up to explorers._

_Afterwards we went to the premier explorer outfitting company in the area going by the name of Napier's Firm. My father had warned me before I set out about how Labyrinth Explorers are constantly targeted by inflated prices and merchants looking for profit, but I was not expecting this level of naked money hungry ambition. While I requisitioned a proper amount for the journey and expenses before leaving home, I find that almost all of it has been spent already on the most basic and flimsy equipment the shop owner possesses. It seems that the demand for equipment is so great that if one does not reserve an item by bringing the production materials in for it themselves it is almost impossible to beat the other explorers to the register._

_But even so, Edie, the owner, seems to enjoy the price gouging a little too much. Her cackling is starting to get on my nerves._

_Entry 2:_

_The Senatus has officially given us permission to enter the Labyrinth, though it seems that very little is expected of us. The contact for explorers in the Senatus seemed even less enthusiastic than the Guildmaster, but far more professional._

_Entry 3:_

_I could hardly believe my eyes when we stepped down the staircase in what is nearly the heart of the ocean city of Armoroad. Just like my home town, the city almost seems like it was built around the perimeter of the Labyrinth, at it's base. One would never be able to guess that Armoroad predates the Labyrinth's creation unless they heard the true story from the locals. The lush green plants, colorful birds, and varied wildlife are all completely alien to the rest of the natural world. It was only a few steps inside that I saw an animal that looked like a durian fruit with a tooth filled mouth encompassing half it's body. Truly astounding._

_It is just like my father told me, "There is no such thing as common sense inside a Labyrinth."_

_Entry 4:_

_I think I understand why Lin made that cryptic comment about getting past the first floor now. We're being forced to pass a test of our map making skills before entering any deeper into the Labyrinth. I'm fairly lucky that my father decided to teach me cartography when I was young, seeing as how he knew how important it was. We are already halfway through the task with no trouble so far, aside from the active wildlife._

Closing the Exploration Journal that Xander started keeping, not only for a keepsake but as a possible clue and warning to rescuers should the worst befall them, Xander takes a deep breath as he stands up from the rock he had been sitting upon. The rest of the team is enjoying themselves by the water and refilling their canteens, since there is no hint of hostile animals nearby.

As the ladies enjoy their moment of rest and Yuriko cleans off the blood she'd gotten on herself from scavenging sale worthy parts off the creatures the party had defeated since their arrival, Xander pulls out the map he'd been working on for half a day already to study it closer. Something was off about it.

Stepping away from her self appointed guard post, Sarah approaches Xander to voice her concern over his obviously unsatisfied face.

"Get the others," he replies, "we're doubling back."

They did so, much to Sonia's chagrin and complaint. "Look, kid, I dunno what jumped up yer britches, but there _ain't_ nothin' _here._ I've helped map this floor three times and I can tell you, with certainty, that all we have left is the areas to the north and the west. You're just wastin' daylight."

"D-do you really need to shout like that?" says Yuriko nervously, not being a fan of verbal conflict. "You might attract something's attention."

"Just let the guy be," says Lin in her laid back manner, enjoying the stroll as much as the show Sonia's putting on, "He's the boss of the group. If he wants to double check something, it's his call."

But Sonia refused to be happy, saying in a voice that would have been under her breath if not for her exasperation, "Damn it. There goes happy hour."

"So that's what this is all about then?" interjects Sarah sharply, "Your boozing?"

As the chaos behind him grows louder, along with Lin's laughter, Xander focuses harder on the wall in front of him, moving along it slowly, pace by pace. "There's a void." He'd said before, explaining that there was a large space just north of the pool of water that held nothing. Yet on the east path he'd found an overgrown gap that suggested something was there. There's no proof, but Xander just had a gut feeling.

"That is that, and this is this!" shouts Sonia to the others, "I'm tellin' ya, _there ain't nothin' here!_"

The sharp sound of Xander's unsheathing sword and hacks against the foliage wall startle the party and cut the argument short. Stepping into what was thought to be an impenetrable mass of trees, Xander disappears from view. The others dash to the location they had last seen him, calling out even as they run. When they arrive, the ladies see a dark passage barely wide enough for a single person to pass through, and on the other side is Xander inviting them to follow. After some troublesome snags trying to fit Sonia's weapon through the trail, the party finds themselves in a large meadow that is completely self contained, holding Armoroad storage boxes that may date back to the catastrophe itself, and Xander beaming with delight at his discovery.

Before most of the party could recover from the concept that they were the first to discover this area, on the first floor of the Labyrinth no less, to form words, Sarah speaks to Sonia in satisfied triumph on her master's behalf.

"So, Sonia. Will you be having _crow_ with that foot in your mouth?"

_Entry 5:_

_It would seem that actual cartography skills are rare in Armoroad, judging by the reaction the guard had when I showed him the finished map. Not only was he surprised to see it completed in only a day, he was marveled with the accuracy and detail it held. This is perhaps the first time I've seen an Explorer's liaison genuinely pleased in his dealing with us. On the guard's urging we left the Labyrinth to meet with the Senator, who I have since learned is named Flowdia._

_The Senator was quite pleased by the exemplary manner in which we passed the test. So pleased in fact that she granted us a boat and reward money with which to outfit ourselves further. I have never heard of such generosity to beginning explorers, so we have either shown ourselves as being truly valuable to the city of Armoroad…or the city is just that desperate to reclaim what has been lost to them in the disaster a century ago._

_Perhaps the truth lies somewhere in between._

_But whatever the reasons behind it, this is the first milestone for Guild Aequitas, and as such the party has decided to celebrate our authorization to explore the Labyrinth with a night of drinking. Sonia apparently knows the perfect place for explorers to have fun._

Entering the Butterfly Bistro, the first thing Xander notices in the failing light is the clean and comfortable atmosphere. The restaurant is open to the outdoors just like the Explorer's Guild, so the island of Armoroad must have exceptionally good weather in order for so many buildings to be willing to take such chances with the elements. Xander only noticed the second matter when the Bistro's owner turned around to face her entering customers.

Xander almost suffered whiplash from his being physically taken aback by the mass of Missy the owner's bust, as the only coherent thought was a dreadful worry that Sonia had secretly led them to one of the more…unwholesome service businesses he'd hear guards whisper about to one another when they thought no one was listening. But looking around, Xander realized that in the whole bar, and the whole person of the bar owner, the only unwholesome thing about the establishment was her body. And perhaps to a lesser extent, her sense of fashion. Xander was pretty sure that was Missy's bra, black and visible behind the fabric of her dress.

Xander was suddenly dimly aware of Missy welcoming him to the bar. Stammering a thanks to the oddly accented, though in no way unintelligible woman, Xander takes a quick look at his companions. Sonia was already ordering a drink, and Lin was explaining the day's events to Missy. Sarah was still apparently looking around the bar suspiciously. It seems she has the same worry that Xander had had concerning the bar's true form. Yuriko seemed to be staring intently at Missy's chest in voracious jealousy, considering the woman had in excess what she herself lacked.

Suddenly Missy cries out in surprise, "You've already become Authorized! Congratulating! We must celebrate! Everyone, we must be celebrating Guild Aequitas for their good fortune!"

And so the festivities began. Before long Xander and the rest of the party had received the combined wisdom of a dozen explorers, three or four who knew what they were talking about. But the most helpful information of the night came from one man.

"Great Lynx?" asks Xander, peering over the rim of his mug.

"Oh yeah, in fact there's a saying we have, "The Great Lynx is where rookies become explorers!"

"No there isn't, you lush!" exclaims Lin while laughing at the experienced explorer, as she takes up a fist full of bar nuts.

"Hahaha, you got me, I just made it up." And the two begin laughing in concert. But eventually Xander is able to get some real information out of the explorer, about how the creature can appear at any time on the first floor and you have to surmount the creature if you plan on making it to the second.

Turning his head to his right, Xander asks Lin earnestly, "Wait, so when you said you hope we make it to the second floor, you were talking about the Lynx?"

"Well yeah," replies Lin, a little bit red in the face and slightly tipsy. "That thing is the real challenge of the first floor. We're _really_ lucky we didn't run into one today. Those things'll _wreck_ a party if they're not prepared."

"And you didn't think to mention this _before_ we went into the Labyrinth."

Lin shrugs noncommittally, "Well, it's kind of the in joke of the island. If an explorer is good enough to take on the Labyrinth, he can handle a Lynx. Eventually. And afterwards we all have a big laugh."

"No need to worry, Xander," says Missy from the other side of the bar as she refreshes a drink, "With all your people so energetic there is no way you not win the fight."

Missy was indeed correct, all the members of Aequitas are full of energy, despite the day's efforts. Yuriko is balancing an empty bottle on her forehead while stepping in time to a song chanted by the other customers, Sonia's enjoying a drink while telling the story of how the party discovered the meadow, minus her embarrassing parts, and Sarah's pounding down her fifth ale. Despite everything else about her, Sarah was a good drinker and quite cheerful after she's had a few rounds. Even now she was sitting next to Sonia and chiming in with bits on the "Hidden Meadow" story.

The site was enough to push all worries about the Great Lynx aside, and a smile crept across Xander's face. The party will do just fine.

"Oh, I am almost forgetting," says Missy in a singsong voice as she dives under the bar to emerge with a piece of paper with a three digit number on it that is held out to Xander with an angelic smile. "Since you are employing Sonia now, you will be paying her tab. Yes?"

Xander's smile dies a terrible and instant death, with Lin cracking up uncontrollably while trying to muffle her laughter with a hand over her mouth. Xander coolly accepts the bill from Missy and says in as sweet a voice as he can muster, "Will you accept a payment plan? This will be coming out of Sonia's salary for a while to come."

_**End Chapter 1**_


	3. Chapter 2

_**~Chapter 2**_

_Day 2 – Emperor 2nd_

_Entry 1:_

_The entire party is feeling the effects of the festivities last night, and we got our start later today than would have been preferable. Made a brief stop at the Butterfly Bistro to pick up some side jobs from Missy and give Sarah a chance to have "some of the dog that bit her."_

_Afterward we stopped at Napier's Firm to trade in the materials we had gathered in the Labyrinth, allowing us to purchase a few items of higher quality. Although most of us are now equipped with better weapons, the new armor Edie tried to sell us was just regular clothing with fish scales glued on the front. They even smelled like rotten fish. While most of the party was annoyed by the shoddy armor trying to be pawned off on us, Lin picked out a straw hat for herself with her regular uncommon cheer._

_Entry 2:_

_We've successfully backtracked to a location we found yesterday that fit the description of our first job from the Quest Board at the Bistro. All in all, it was very simple. I'm almost ashamed to accept this Fisherman Bill's money. But then I recall what he intends to use it for and that feeling disappears._

_Entry 3:_

_The party has found a sealed door marked with a spinning crescent moon. While none of us have any idea how to open the door, or what lies past it, most of us agree it is worth remembering._

_Entry 4:_

_Have gathered the ingredients for Missy's experimental dish. What kind of nation is she from that eats amphibians? Irregardless, I doubt I'll be trying her new dish any time soon. It seems far too cannibalistic to consume the flesh of one you slew in combat. We pause just long enough for Yuriko to finish gathering the creature's meat before returning to charting the remainder of the 1st basement level._

"I still don't know how you can do that." says Sonia.

"Do what?" replies Yuriko as she continues to cut scores in the flesh of the guard dog sized frog the party had just defeated with her dagger.

"Harvesting parts." says Lin, in her rare unamused state of mind.

"Oh? It's easy. You just feel for the borders of the part you want to remove, cut guiding lines, sever the muscles and tendons in the way and then-"

There is the sound of wet rending flesh as Yuriko swiftly and forcefully yanks at the edge of the throat sack used in the frog's mating calls. Straightening up, Yuriko holds out for viewing a grapefruit sized, spherical, jiggling, unnaturally colored and blood drenched object that had moments before been inside the animal, and innocently finishes her explanation. "Pull."

Sonia's face freezes, except for a twitch at the corner of the eye, as one who had just seen a sight never intended for human eyes, and not knowing if one should be amazed or disgusted. Lin tips the brim of her straw hat over her eyes, caused more by exasperation at the ninja's obtuse nature than the sight of blood. Sarah though had obviously been struggling since the beginning, the large bags under her eyes from the previous night of drinking slowly getting colored with green that spread across her face. This finale finishes even _her_ off as she does a quick about face and stumbles to rest a shoulder against a tree before being sick.

Xander had purposefully been keeping his back to the entire event, however, using the journal as an excuse not to watch. He knew better than to watch Yuriko at work thanks to previous experience.

_Entry 5:_

_We have successfully finished mapping the first sublevel of the Labyrinth, and even found another hidden chamber. Inside was a suit of armor constructed from feathers. While I suggested that Sarah take it since we have yet to get purchasing rights for any proper mail for her to wear, Sarah insisted that I wear it. The armor itself seems to be made of feathers with the consistency of treated leather. If we show it to Edie we may learn what it is and how to make copies of the armor for the rest of the party._

_But it matters little, since the self imposed task of mapping the first sublevel has been completed, with several shortcuts found leading directly to the second sublevel. We will be returning to town to rest and prepare for entering the next floor of the Labyrinth in the morning._

"You sure yer fine, Stoneface?" asks Sonia as the party walks the grassy paths, heading south to one of the shortcuts they had marked.

"How many times do I have to say I'm fine," Sarah's annoyed reply comes out more like a declarative statement than a question. Indeed, ever since her unintentional purge Sarah had been looking a little better, her hangover starting to clear up.

"I'm just makin' sure. I want the chance to get outta yer way in case ya yack again."

Sonia and Lin both have a nice little chuckle at this, though Sarah just blushes in embarrassment. Since it was the truth, Sarah felt she didn't have a leg to stand on in trying to defend herself. After a moment it sank in for Sonia that Sarah wouldn't be making any retorts and makes a clumsy apology by way of saying she wasn't trying to make any digs at her.

"Heck, you wouldn't believe the number of times _I_ blew chunks." continues Sonia unnecessarily. Xander closes his eyes to shake his head at the completely uncalled for sharing of that fact. His eyes open at the searing pain from his shoulder and sound of something scraping across the new armor on his chest, his field of vision is greeted by the ground rushing up to meet his falling body.

The shock of the pain and impact makes it feel like time has slowed to a crawl as Xander instinctively looks at where it hurts, seeing three enormous gashes cut into the cloth of his shirt and an equal number of bloody rends in his shoulder underneath. Looking forward he sees a beast as large as a man if he were bent over on all four limbs, a sort he has never seen before with a cheerful yellow hue, white belly, but black details and blood red eyes. It's right forepaw is also red, stained with Xander's blood.

Two words form in Xander's head as sound begins to reenter his world. Great Lynx.

Indeed, a Great Lynx. This predator of the first subbasement in the Labyrinth had actually been tailing the party for an hour, growing hungrier as it waited for the instant these strange animals that walk on two legs grew careless and vulnerable. The two legs are strange, running from being oddly weak to unusually strong. But they are filling, and worth the risk.

The stomping of boots before his eyes returns Xander to reality as Sarah takes a defensive stance in front of him crying, "See to my Lord!" A violet blur sweeps past Xander as he forces himself upright onto one knee, a blood spraying gash appearing on the Lynx from Yuriko's knife who is gone from the animal's range before it even knew the girl had been near it in the first place. Xander becomes aware of Lin's presence as she kneels down next to him, telling him to stay still, behind Sarah's protecting body. The sound of an impact reaches Xander's ears as the Lynx's attempt to bite Sarah is blocked by the buckler she is holding, the face turned away with a precise swing of the shield. But the protective surface area is far too small, and the beast's claws sneak past to leave a shallow wound on Sarah's abdomen.

Xander's mind is racing now that Lin's infusion of her own Qi into the pressure points concerning Xander's shoulder were starting to have an effect, lessening the pain even as the tissue starts to knit. The beast is stronger than anything else they've met on this level, and if the tide of the battle doesn't change fast then things could get very bad indeed. And Xander remembers what the old explorer told him in the bar. It's weak to fire.

"Sonia!" Xander calls out to the woman who was just about to fire her man sized ballistic weapon, "Over here, fast!"

Heeding the order, the red haired woman hurries the few paces over to where Xander's treatment is finishing up. With his right hand Xander had dug something out of his pocket, and with the grip of his teeth opens the cap on it before smearing some strange goo on the guiding track of Sonia's enormous crossbow, like squeezing adhesive out of a glue stick.

"Okay," says Xander, "_Now_ shoot it."

Just as Sarah was able to bodily push the Lynx off her, using a choked up grip on her spear to menace the beast into backing off by a pace, Sonia pulls the trigger on her crossbow releasing an exclamation of surprise as she does so. The oversized slug shaped ballistic round that Arbalists refer to as bolts strikes the goo on the weapon's guiding track as it is fired, and explodes into flames as half it's body is buried into the flank of the Great Lynx, which recoils with an angry cry and gains distance from the party in a panic caused by the flames smoldering it's fur.

"What was _that?_" asks Lin in amazement, left hand holding the straw hat in place.

"A family recipe." quips Xander back. The spooky black haired Alchemist in the guild run by Xander's father, Franz, had taught Xander a few minor alchemical formulas for use on his expedition. Though without the proper Alchemist's equipment that can't be reduced to anything smaller than a pair of arm consuming gauntlets, this is the most the gelatin can do. But a little jellied phosphorus, magnesium, and benzene on a weapon can go a long way.

The Lynx was wounded by the last attack, but not enough to finish it. The beast looks more angry than intimidated, and so Xander makes his decision in the borrowed moments from the Lynx's short retreat. Drawing his sword, Xander calls, "Let's finish this."

This time both sides charge at each other, neither with an advantage. Yuriko's footwork makes her seem to disappear between steps as she slides past the front line of warriors, rakes the Lynx's shoulder, and reappears in the back ranks looking for her next opening. Xander's sword descends as the Lynx draws close, Sarah's shield poised to intercept the beast's next attack against her Lord, but the sword scrapes off the Lynx's ribs doing minimal damage and the canary yellow predator dashes past the front line and directly at Sonia, it's mouth wide in a furious snarl while leaping for the woman's throat.

Dropping the bolt she was loading, Sonia instinctively lifts her arms to try and protect her face. The Lynx's fangs tear deep into Sonia's right arm as the creature's mass pushes the woman to the ground. And then it bites down harder as if it's trying to bite off the limb. Sonia screams in pain and the sound of a crunch can be heard.

The sound came from the head of Lin's wooden mace as it struck cleanly into the Lynx's side, breaking at least one rib and causing the beast to reflexively release it's grip on the Arbalist and stagger momentarily from the blow. That moment was enough as Yuriko finally finds an opening and slashes at the creature's face, cutting though an eye. Stumbling half blind the Lynx doesn't see the furious Sarah's spear as it penetrates it's forepaw, pinning it to the ground. Unseeing, natural instinct takes over and the Lynx tries to pull away, causing the entire center toe from the middle of it's foot to be torn off.

Dropping onto the ground from pain and lack of footing now that one limb is crippled, the Lynx in still just long enough for Xander's sword to drop onto it's neck. For a moment there is not a sound except for breathing, no one really believing that the beast was dead and the fight over. But the moment passes and the party see to their wounded member, Sonia, on the ground.

Lin was already taking a look at Sonia and ordering her not to move, first thoroughly checking the neck and chest under a layer of blood to see if the vitals were pierced. Could all that blood really be Sonia's? Next Lin is sliding her hands down the length of Sonia's injured right arm to find where exactly the wound begins. She stops just below the elbow, studies it for a moment and then mutters the words, Uh-oh.

Every member of the party pauses for a moment, even the laboriously breathing Sonia when they hear Lin's remark. You don't ever want to hear that from a healer. Sonia even goes so far as to repeat the words indignantly. Muttering a quick apology, Lin lifts the left sleeve of her robe and reveals a strapped in place needle carrier, each needle with it's own padded filling to hold the needle in place and keep it sterile. Drawing out three needles Lin tells Sonia deliberately, "No matter what happens, don't move your arm _or_ your hand." Sonia nods somewhat dumb founded at this new, serious Lin.

Lin smoothly stabs each of the three needles into Sonia's arm, one after the other. Sonia reacts with a quick twisting of her facial features, morally indignant about being stabbed while wounded, that would have been comical if she were not maimed, and then her face loses its pained expression. In wonder, Sonia asks, "Hey, what'd you do?"

"I blocked the nerves in your arm. You shouldn't be able to feel anything for a little- **I told you not to move!**"

Sonia is startled by Lin's angry tone. Was this really alright, getting nasty with your patient?

Lin has already forgotten her anger, and what caused it. Now she's digging in her pack and drawing out a bandage, which she wraps around Sonia's arm, twists, bites one end to maintain tension, and ties it off to finish the tourniquet. Next she pulls out a bottle that emits the strong stink of alcohol after being opened, which Lin pours vigorously over the wound. Taking a cloth, Lin begins cleaning away the blood, tossing the cloth away when she's done, and pouring in another dose of the alcohol stinking liquid. Afterwards Lin begins the process of wrapping the forearm with cloth around a splint.

Meanwhile Sonia is trying to play things off by talking. "Heh. Man, I can't believe I did that. I screamed like a _chick_, that's so embarrassin'…Hey, Yuriko, you're suppose to say, 'but you _are_ a chick,' or somethin'."

"Ah, sorry. Sh-should I say it now?" replies Yuriko, who is on the brink of tears.

"Nah, it's fine. But it's still embarrassin'. I was expectin' the _kid_ to be the first to get messed up in here."

"If you have the strength to talk," says Xander as he pulls out a Medica, one of the few bits of old knowledge that's widely known and produced as a medicine that can almost miraculously heal regular wounds, "Then drink this."

Craning Sonia's head up and bracing it, Xander forces her to drink. While the Medica is a healing drink, it was never meant for injuries as severe as this. But at the same time it couldn't hurt. Sonia finishes the drink and complains about the taste as Lin finishes her labor and unties the tourniquet to prevent tissue damage from lack of blood, even as she applies Qi techniques to stifle the bleeding.

Straightening up from her efforts, Lin wipes off her hands on a clean rag and throws it away afterwards, saying, "Okay, I've done what I can, but we need to get her back to Amon's Inn. They'll have the facilities to give her full treatment."

"Is it bad?" asks Sarah with actual sincerity, even though her voice is practically monotone.

"Well, I don't think there's any damage to the bones, but yeah, it's bad. We're going to need to carry her back."

The party makes their way back to Armoroad as quickly and uneventfully as possible, but the journey still feels like a trudging march. Thankfully the team has not encountered a second Lynx, such an event would be even more disastrous in the party's currently undermanned condition, and they have been forced to flee against the presence of enemies instead of engaging them, since Xander is carrying Sonia, and Sarah is lugging the giant crossbow. Also, the party can't afford to waste time fighting since Sonia is growing even paler and her emergency treatment bandage is already soaking through with dripping beads of blood.

The only good news is that Lin left the needles in Sonia's arm to manage the pain, even though that effect is slowly diminishing, and Sonia is starting to lose consciousness. Even so, she is still trying to make light of her injury as Xander carries her in his arms.

"Hey, kid." says Sonia in a slurring voice, "It's too embarrassin' to be carried like this, like I was a bride or a princess or somethin'. At least let me walk on my own feet when we get back to town."

"Sorry, Sonia, but Lin said to keep your heart rate down. That means being carried."

"Psssh. You're jus' getting' off on holdin' a beauty like me in yer arms, ain't ya kid?"

Xander replies with a forced smirk. "Keep talking like that and I'll carry you over my shoulder like a sack of potatoes."

Sonia smiles back and says, "You'd like that, wouldn't ya? Havin' my butt right next to yer cheek."

Xander doesn't reply back, leaving Sonia hanging, staring at his face as he's carrying her up the steep stairs that lead to the Labyrinth's exit. He's sweating, breathing raggedly, with a desperate worry and fear staining his face. All for someone he met just yesterday.

"Oi. Kid…yer too pure."

Xander doesn't hear the words from Sonia's fading voice as unconsciousness begins overtaking her. The kid is just too pure. And this Labyrinth is going to break him. Sonia isn't looking forward to seeing it happen, but it will.

_Entry 6:_

_It was close, but we were able to get Sonia back to the inn. She was immediately swept into the emergency treatment facilities. It was only after we had turned her over to the medical team that Lin was willing to tell me the extent of the damage. The vein in Sonia's wrist was punctured and beyond Lin's ability to heal, which was the need for us to hurry her back to town. But what still has Lin worried is that the location and depth of the Lynx's bite may have inflicted nerve damage, leaving Sonia unable to use her hand. Such an injury would effectively end Sonia's career in the Labyrinth._

_Lin has said that there is nothing more we can do except kill time, so I've sent Yuriko to see Missy about the completed jobs and Sarah to cash in our prizes with Edie. I feel the need to stay in the waiting room until I've heard how Sonia will fair. Why? Since this is a journal only to be read by myself, or by another after my death I feel safe in writing this. Because it's my fault._

_I didn't consider the possibility of the Lynx targeting Sonia even after ordering her to attack with the beast's most hated element. I underestimated it's intelligence and Sonia paid the price for it. Today I've learned a harsh lesson. It's not the strong that survive the Labyrinth, and not the skilled. It's the intelligent and the prepared. Even after I was warned by the old explorer in the Bistro last night, I just assumed things would go our way and so I wasn't prepared._

_I wasn't prepared for this._

Lin and Xander have spent the better part of an hour in the waiting lounge of the Inn's treatment wing, Xander almost oblivious to the world, and Lin studying Xander. Though Lin is as worried about Sonia's recovery as her boss sitting on the couch across from her, she's feeling an even heavier disappointment. It looks like history is repeating itself. Lin had been looking forward to making it into the Labyrinth, to the second floor and beyond. It's why she went to the trouble of being an accredited Monk and registered with the Guildmaster in the first place. Lin got her chance to enter the Labyrinth over a month ago in a newly formed party, where she met Sonia.

They had only been in the party for a few days when they had been ambushed by a Great Lynx while on their way to the second sub level. While Lin had been able to keep everyone alive, the party nearly left their wounded after running for their lives. After that, the leader of the party had changed. He had been confident before, but afterward he was afraid and anxious. The party broke up a few days later, having made it no farther than the first floor, leaving both Sonia and Lin unemployed.

It was impossible to get a job after that. No party wants to hire an explorer that couldn't even get past the first floor, especially if it was because of bad luck. Until that Prince Xander stepped off the boat and put together a party without checking their backgrounds first. It was Sonia and Lin's chance to clear their reputations and go back into that Labyrinth that seems to call to you like a Siren's song. But now, here is Lin sitting across from the party's leader who is wearing the same fear and anxiety that her last one had. The party may have killed the Lynx, but for the second time the Lynx has defeated Lin.

It's only a matter of time before the party breaks up again. And when it's gone, so is Lin's chance to see more of that beautiful and frightening place. She's going to spend the rest of her life looking after backaches and arthritis, with no chance of really becoming a Grandmaster. And what's worse, Lin just knows that Sonia is going to blame herself.

The far door opens and in comes a member of the medical staff. The moment it took for him to inhale before speaking seems like a lifetime in which Xander's and Lin's hearts both stop. The words are accompanied by a smile and relief floods like a river, with only the highlights of the delivery remaining. Full recovery. Discharge in the morning. No complications. Medica drip. Visitors allowed. And then the man turns and leaves to avoid having to put up with being profusely thanked by strangers again that day.

But even with the good news, Lin didn't feel like thanking anyone. Instead she turns to look at Xander, who was slowly breathing in with closed eyes and letting out a long breath through his mouth as if he was trying to let his soul escape, asking, "You wanna go see Sonia?"

Xander opens his eyes and says a hard, "No."

Lin is taken aback by it, not exactly by Xander's refusal, but by his eyes. She was expecting them to be showing relief tinged by doubt or fear. But there is nothing but cold determination in those eyes.

Continuing on as he stands up, Xander says, "If I see Sonia now she'll just complain about me seeing her at her worst, which you don't do to a warrior. If you choose to see her, Lin, then tell Sonia to get as much rest as she can. We'll be leaving for the second floor in the morning, as planned, when she's ready."

Opening the door to the exit, Xander says over his shoulder before leaving, "I'm going to pick up some supplies we'll need for tomorrow. Make sure you get proper rest too, Lin. We're going to need to be at our best."

As the door closes behind the Prince, Lin is speechless for a few moments before a large smile starts to spread across her face. Excited, Lin hops up laughing and hurries to see Sonia. Lin can't wait to tell her that they've signed on with a winner!

Emperor 3

Xander is nearly ready for the day's march on the second sublevel of the Labyrinth. Having bought extra Medica, an Ariadne's Thread, received some tents from Missy, and stocked up on more conventional supplies such as dried foods in case the team gets stuck in the Labyrinth for long periods of time. Xander is ready. But at the same time, he knows he's not ready.

Nothing can truly prepare someone for the Labyrinth, but now Xander knows what he has to do in order to stand a chance in that exotic deathtrap. He has to understand the wildlife, keep the beasts occupied with the more armored ranks, save the elemental weakness attacks for finishing blows, if at all possible, and never leave a man behind.

Xander fingers the gash on the new armor where the Lynx's claws had scored it. While the marks on his shoulder were nearly healed and gone already, this reminder remained. If Xander had not adorned this armor before the fight, the Lynx's claws would have sunk in past the ribcage and torn through his lung. Xander is lucky he isn't dead. But he can't depend on luck.

Grabbing the royal cape from his luggage that was meant to be worn for formal occasions only, a deep red with gold trim, Xander swings it about and secures it around his shoulders in one move. He can no longer afford to be the person in charge. Xander has to become a Leader, and inspire the team by lifting their morale even when times were at their worst. He knows that he won't be able to fill such a role immediately, but Xander is determined to become a man that will instill courage in his companions and lead them through the darkest times. That is what Xander can, and must, do.

Because there is something Xander has to find here. And he does not have the luxury of giving up.

_**End Chapter 2**_


	4. Chapter 3

_**~Chapter 3**_

_Day 3 – Emperor 3__rd_

_Entry 1:_

_I will only admit to this journal that I was hesitant about meeting the others this morning. It is all well and good to _say_ that you will be marching even further into the Labyrinth, but to actually do it is another matter. The damage we suffered yesterday at the claws of the Lynx would be enough to shatter anyone's confidence and pride, so I could not just assume that any of my party members would still wish to enter the Labyrinth ever again. And yet as nobility that is all that I can do to inspire others to action. Make an impossible declaration as if it were fact, start walking towards my objective, and hope that the ones under my command don't see through the façade and are inspired enough to follow._

_My fear was for nothing in the end. Everyone was waiting for me in the lounge, excited to set out, even Sonia, whom I felt would be the most justified in protesting our further explorations. She still has bandages on her arm where the Lynx bit her, but claims the wound is as insignificant as a bug bite and assured me that she's ready to enter deeper into the Labyrinth. But she used much more colorful language to say so._

_Every member of the party believes that I am confident in our success. But I feel no confidence. Sitting here on the stairs leading to the second subbasement as we run a final check on our equipment, I feel only nervous excitement and a crushing desire to see what comes next._

_It would seem that I really am my father's son._

Stepping into the light from the stone enclosed stairway the party blinks hard against the sun filtering through the leaves, the team simultaneously feels a sense of wonder and excitement that is almost indescribable. Like being able to step on the surface of the moon, a right only earned through danger, training, and perseverance. In these few moments of wonder nobody on the team says anything except for Sonia, who says, "It's good to be back."

After gathering their wits enough to take stock of their surroundings, Xander gets to work charting the meadow the party exited the stairway into, needing definite knowledge of how to retrace their steps in the future. After the preliminary charting the party moves on to a corridor like trail through the trees, Xander making notes on the dimensions even as they walk and talk.

"I still don't get it, Lin," says Sonia to her companion as they meander, "Why buy a straw hat from a weapons merchant? I mean, it's not even armor!"

Lin craftily smiles at Sonia as she replies. "Ah! But it protects me from a lot of things. Sunlight. Heat. Bird droppings. Lots of stuff!"

"What about Claw Shrimp? Will it protect you from those?" retorts Sonia.

Xander, who was in the middle of arithmetical calculations in his head for his mapping suddenly stops dead in his tracks. "Claw shrimp?" he asks.

"Yeah," answers Sonia back, "It's a shrimp with claws. They live down here."

Trying to wrap her head around this definition, Sarah intones, "But if it's a shrimp with claws…wouldn't it be a crawdad?"

"Or a tiny lobster?" follows Xander, as the team starts moving again, nearing a corner. "I mean, shrimp don't have claws. It's why they're shrimp."

With a sense of superiority, Sonia continues on. "These shrimp do. Big claws on 'em. Big as a man."

With a childlike sense of wonder and a sparkle in her eyes, Yuriko asks, "Do you think we'll get to meet one?"

In the middle of Sonia's reply of, "Oh, sure we will," the party hears a voice right behind them say, "Hold, explorers! There is much you should know to survive these depths. Heed my advice."

Turning on their heels, the party faces the undetected owner of the voice who had somehow closed to within only a few paces from them without being noticed. Yuriko's dagger was already out before anyone else had finished facing the voice, and all kindness and purity had left her eyes from the possibility of a coming battle. The owner of the voice on the other hand made no move, and only stared at the party.

The voice's owner turns out to be a young man with shoulder length golden blond hair and piercing blue eyes. No, the color is not piercing, but the eyes themselves. Adorned in very opulent and high quality armor and clothing of an Eastern origin, the man truly looks like an accomplished warrior, even without the hilt of his sword poking out over his right shoulder. A hilt that seems oddly clashing with his traditional garb.

"This is your first time on the second floor?" He asks as if gauging the party, his slightly bagged eyes as piercing as before.

Xander steps forward and waves a hand at the others, who are all apparently tense in the presence of this man, to stay their weapons. "Generally, yes, though our Arbalist seems to have prior experience here. Most of us are recent arrivals to Armoroad and its Labyrinth though."

Xander answers honestly, feeling that it is the best way to gauge this stranger. It would seem he was correct as the man smiles at Xander's honesty and replies with a more upbeat tone, though it still does not cause Xander to relax around him.

"Welcome, newcomers to Armoroad. By now you must have been to the Senatus, no? My orders from the Senatus are to give useful advice to novice explorers in this Labyrinth."

Sonia bristles slightly and quietly repeats the word "novice" incredulously. The stranger does not notice her reaction, or chooses not to, and walks through the party's formation to the path's corner, not turning his head to look at any of the members until he reaches his chosen destination and turns to face them again.

"Those who come swaggering in triumph from the 1st floor…usually die at that beast's hand," says the man, indicating with his thumb.

Xander steps forward to look in the direction the thumb is pointing and looks around the corner of the wall of flora to see the biggest lizard he has ever known. Standing twice as tall as a man and five times as muscled, the great green skinned and red spotted reptile slowly roams a trail that is probably of it's own making, pulling leaves off the trees and slowly chewing on them. Despite the apparent herbivorous nature of the beast it has a multitude of horns poking out all over its body, including a nasty one between the eyes on its flat, almost comical face with nostrils appearing just under it. As the beast slowly chews its meal, a disgusting purple haze is expelled slightly with every grinding movement of its mouth in rhythm to the slow swaying of the long tail behind it with a bulbous spiked growth, like the head of a morning star.

With one look Xander understood exactly how dangerous the creature is, and how little he wished to face it. Involuntarily the letters "FOE" escape his lips.

"You know about the beasts?" asks the unidentified man in armor.

"I've heard stories," replies Xander as he straightens up from having bent around the curve, "That there are beasts known to be the mightiest creatures of a floor, untouchable by the other creatures that dwell there. And that only the truly mighty or the foolish face them in battle."

The armored man nods slowly and then shrugs slightly as he says, "You are correct in that. If everyone was smart enough to back away from fights they clearly can't win, there'd be no issue. But too many novice guilds perish from foolishly charging towards monsters beyond their abilities." The man's attitude returns back to one of a self important nature. "…I must caution you as well. Watch the enemy's movements before making your own."

The man smiles sardonically and gives a slight bow before turning and walking deeper into the forest, almost ignoring the giant beast as he walks, as if it were nothing for him to worry about.

"I look forward to meeting you again should our paths cross." The man calls over his shoulder while walking away, in a tone of voice that sounds half like a wish and half an ultimatum.

It was only several seconds after the man had disappeared from sight around a far off corner that the members of the party started breathing easily again, an invisible tension leaving their bodies.

"Guy's kinda a jerk, huh?" says Sonia bluntly.

Yuriko timidly says, "Something about that man is scary."

Sarah only plainly says the words "Lord Xander" while giving him a meaningful look that said exactly what she was thinking. Xander candidly replies, to Sarah as much as the rest of the party. "I agree that he seems rather dangerous, but for the time being he doesn't seem to be hostile. He may even wish us well. But we can't count on that always being true. Everyone, be wary around him in the future."

It was a warning that did not need to be said aloud, as everyone in the party could feel it instinctively and they all nodded in agreement without speaking. Even Sonia.

But that was not the end of the nerve wracking time period, as the great lizard lumbered ever toward the party's position. Even though Xander had gauged that the creature was not a carnivore, he could not be completely certain that it was not aggressive. Staying several yards away from the bend, the party waited until the giant beast came into view and looked directly at them. Consecutively their hearts skipped a beat, anticipating a charge that would send them all running for the stairwell and safety. But it never came. Dully, almost stupidly, the enormous flat-faced beast turns around and begins lumbering back the way it came.

Motioning the others to follow, their hearts in their throats, the party matches their walking speed with the slow gait of the creature as they follow its path. The tension could be cut with a knife as every member has the same question running through their heads. What do we do if it turns around?

After what seems like an eternity of measured walking the party finds a branching path and duck into it as soon as possible. The team finally begins to relax again, gasping in relief. The promise of danger can be worse than one would suspect. With the team unwinding from the stress, Xander peers around the corner and continues to watch the great beast as it continues its circuit, until it takes on the appearance of a miniature version of itself because of the distance. And his mind begins to work.

Why here? And if it didn't mind our presence near it, why does it claim as many lives as the other man suggested? It moves back and forth almost like it's on a patrol…like it's protecting something. A nest perhaps?

And a smile appears on the young Prince's face. He has an Ariadne's Thread. Why not chance it.

Turning to the others, smiling wryly, Xander asks, "Wanna see what the big lizard's protecting?"

A general feeling of disbelief hangs in the air as all the others gape at Xander's question, except for Lin who laughs aloud, "Ha HAAA! Now that's what I'm talkin' 'bout!"

_Entry 2:_

_It took a little convincing to get Sonia to come with us into the lizard's lair, Sarah and Yuriko being duty bound to follow me, though nervously. Lin though seemed even more excited than I was._

_Like I had suspected, the beast was patrolling outside its own home. And inside I found its bed and some cast off remains of food, and a satchel that once belonged to an exploration company that used a shovel crossing over a four leaf clover as its guild emblem. There were blood stains on it that indicates the fate of its previous owner. The reason it was taken was made clear by the remains of the dried fruit and nut containers that were strewn about nearby. It was mostly empty of anything useful, but one thing caught my eye. A coupon for half off any item purchased at Napier's Firm. Judging by the age, it was printed when Edie first started up the business, but there is no expiration date and the store and owner names are still accurate. I'll bet Edie has no clue something like this still exists._

_I'm greatly looking forward to using this when Edie tries to price gouge me for a king's ransom some time in the future. While whatever I buy will be half price, seeing the look on her face will be priceless._

_In other news…Claw Shrimp are real._

"I told ya they were real!" proclaims Sonia proudly as the party walks north from their last battle.

"Yeah, yeah," says Sarah absently. The Claw Shrimp really were a different species from lobsters and crawdads, seeing as their claws were vertical, and not horizontal.

"It's too bad we had to kill them, though," adds Yuriko a little sadly.

Sonia goes into her little teaching trip, seeing as how she's the Labyrinth veteran in the group, and how she's still self-satisfied with proving herself right about the shrimp. "Well, don't feel too bad. Everything round here sees us humans as food, seein' as how they're all strong enough to eat us. That's why explorers are always getting' attacked here. It's nothin' to do with intentions or anything, they're just hungry."

"Speaking of hungry," says Xander, changing the subject, "Are people really going to be buying that tail we cut off the frozen shrimp? Seems to me it's a little too big for a dinner plate."

"Well," says Lin, taking over the explanations, "It's pretty common practice to eat food taken from the Labyrinth. It's so big and full of life, yet takes up so little surface area on the island; it'd be a crime not to. We don't have the space for farmlands, so it's either this or eating nothing but fish."

A little embarrassed, Xander replies, "You're misunderstanding me. I'm not unfamiliar with supplementing a city's diet with items found in a Labyrinth. I was really talking more about the dimensions of the shrimp's tail. It's bigger than my…"

The word "forearm" is drowned out by the sound of flapping wings so large that the air displacement sounds more like the bellows in a blacksmith's forge. As the sound quickly draws closer, the party instinctively look up to see it's source and see the bright green bird creating the sound alight on the ground not ten paces in front of the party. Being over eight feet in height and almost as wide, the sound of it's landing seems more like a sand bag dropping from the rafters of a theater than a bird landing.

For a few moments the stunned party just stares at the nearly incomprehensible creature in front of them, just as the creature stares at them with its dimwitted eyes while cocking its head analytically. And so the better part of a minute passes with no one moving or speaking, except for Yuriko's amazed statement of "That's a big bird."

Apparently the bird has come to a decision, as it dips it's head forward, opens it's ridiculously large beak that looks as it splits the head in half, and lets out a loud, flat toned and unpleasant squawk.

**GW**_**AAAAAAAA**_**RK!**

Snapping out of his thoughtless amazement, Xander cries out as he rips his sword from its scabbard, "Watch out, it's attacking!"

Almost as soon as the words are out of his mouth, Xander sees the lavender streak that signified Yuriko's movements past him and past the giant bird, and a flash that could only be Yuriko's dagger slicing into…nothing. There is no spray of blood as usually follows her strike. Did Yuriko miss? But there is no time to contemplate that as the bill of the giant avian dips up and then lashes out at Lin's head, apparently seeking to engulf it whole.

Lin releases a high pitched squeak, far higher than anyone knew she could reach with her deep voice, as her entire field of vision is engulfed by the open gullet of the neon green bird. The bird's beak snaps shut, tearing a large hole in Lin's straw hat and a gash starting at Lin's forehead and going along the right temple streaming blood. Sarah's shield and body weight, still pressing against the side of the birds head, was all that changed the fatal lunge into only a near fatal wound. Pain forcing Lin back into action, she swings her wooden mace in an upward arc to strike the bird right in the throat as this close up opportunity afforded her, only to see it bounce off as if she has struck a mattress.

The giant bird takes a step back, shifting its weight and drawing back its head to remove the contact it has with Sarah's shield, leaving the woman almost stumbling to get her center of gravity again. But Xander isn't about to let the bird have a chance to recollect itself for another attack just yet, and swings in as fierce a downward strike as he can at it's lowered head. Sparks fly as the bird connects it's beak against the sword, and then flings it's head up effectively throwing Xander's blade aside, and Xander back along with it. While stumbling backward, Xander unconsciously notices that the edge of his sword has been notched by the beak.

Stumbling to get his legs planted again, Xander is only barely in time to see Sonia's bolt strike the giant creature in the dead center of the chest as its head reaches the apex of its rise in deflecting Xander's hit. Sonia had been waiting for the precise moment when the bird was most defenseless, attacking the most vital point she could. The satisfaction of seeing his Arbalist's skill lasts for only a second, as the bolt seems to hang in the feathered breast before dipping and then falling onto the ground, not even a drop of blood on the tip of the pointed slug.

Xander stops moving, completely dazed by this. All of their attacks could do nothing to this absurdly green creature. Why?

Green?

Xander looks down at his own breastplate, made out of feathers. They seem to have been dyed a different, more pleasing color, but the score left by the Great Lynx yesterday showed a different color underneath. A neon green. In a rush Xander realizes the feathers used to make this breastplate, a piece of armor not even the claws of a Great Lynx could penetrate, came from this creature right here.

In the time it takes this ridiculously large bird to taste the pile of straw in its mouth, decide it to be unpalatable, and spit it out, Xander gives his urgent order. "Everybody run! We can't hurt it with these weapons! Run!"

Without a hassle, all of the members of the party turn and dash as fast as they can to the south, Yuriko having already broken far out ahead thanks to her inhuman speed, no one looking back to look at the green bird.

But they can hear it. It's abrasive squawk. And the sound of it running after them, each stride sounding like the pounding of sledgehammers on the turf.

**GW**_**AAAAAAAA**_**RK!**

_**TUMP – TUMP – TUMP – TUMP!**_

Every member of the party can hear the thudding run of the giant bird growing closer, despite the head start they had, but no one dares waste the breath they are using for running on the words to say that. No one is wasting their breath except for Yuriko, who had already pulled so far ahead that she has stopped and is waving at the others, shouting, "I've found a shortcut! Through here! Hurry!"

The flash of Yuriko's dagger is seen as she plunges into the treeline, the sound of wood being severed accompanying it. A few moments later Sonia and Lin, who has been helping to haul the enormous crossbow, are following through. The next to arrive is Xander who nearly throws himself into the newly discovered pathway, far too small for the bird to follow them through. The party is saved. And with that thought Xander instinctively looks back to watch the giant bird be foiled it's dinner.

Sarah is not following him through.

The giant bird had closed the space between them to the point that Sarah made the snap decision to hold the opening of the shortcut through the otherwise impenetrable tree line so the others could escape. So Xander could escape.

With the last thudding paces, the enormous bird closes to striking distance, even as Xander shifts his momentum back towards Sarah and opens his mouth to call out to her. Sarah's determined spear thrust stabs at the beast's eye, and is instantly deflected by the quick tilt and lift of the fowl's head, parrying the thrust with its wide bill. In one continuous motion the lifted head swings around into a dip and slams into Sarah's body with the momentum of a swinging log trap. Even with her raised shield, Sarah's eyes go wide and then roll back into her head as she is lifted off the ground and propelled like she was fired from a slingshot straight through the shortcut in the trees, striking Xander in the shoulder as she flies past, and landing in a rolling heap on the other side, still adamantly gripping the haft of her spear. The bowled over Xander lying flat on the ground barely has the presence of mind to cry out to Lin, "See to SarAHHHHH!"

With a clamped pressure directly on one of his feet all the way up to the ankle, Xander suddenly finds himself being dragged backwards. A quick look tells him that the giant bird had been able to stretch it's head in far enough into the narrow shortcut that prevented it's wide body passage to grab him, and is now in the process of pulling Xander back out to it's side. Automatically raking the ground, Xander's hands find a grip on an exposed root and he holds on for dear life. The dragging stops momentarily, and then Xander feels a sharp jerk, and then a slackening, and another sharp jerk from the leg held by the beast. Instead of a constant pull, the bird has switched over to sharp repeated tugs to dislodge its food.

Xander is almost aware of the thought that this may be what a worm feels like.

Xander's primal instinct of self preservation is pierced by a loud and angry, "OI!" followed by a sharp thud, like a wooden spoon striking an empty salad bowl, and Xander flops onto the ground, where a heavy slug buries it's tip into the dirt just near by. Looking up, Xander sees Sonia brandishing her just fired crossbow and finishing her ultimatum to the giant bird. "No one eats my boss while I'm around!"

A quick look back shows Xander that the bird has not only withdrawn it's neck, but was furiously ruffling it's feathers and shaking it's head, where Sonia had presumably bulls-eyed it to get the bird to let go, before scrabbling out to the other side of the shortcut. Rolling out of the tree line to a halt, Xander finally feels like he's safe and props his back against the trunk of a tree as he asks after Sarah's condition between breaths.

Lin hrrms for a moment as she checks Sarah, accompanied by some indignant squawks from the other side of the tree-line as Lin says, "She seems to have taken a few lumps and bruises from the landing, but is mostly okay aside from that. Seems the impact was here, in the solar plexus, forcing all the air out of her lungs. She was knocked out more from the shock of the impact than from any injury, but I'd rather wake her gently and without startling her just in case there're some broken ribs."

With a satisfied chuckle, Xander refolds the map he had been studying during Lin's diagnosis and says his decision. "Well, we're right next to the stairs back down," says Xander with a point in the right direction, "and we've got enough time for Sarah to wake up, now that we've lost that…"

Looking back behind him to take a quick peek at the monstrous bird they had foiled, Xander sees its ascending tail feathers and the accompanying sound of its flapping wings. And a stunned thought interrupts Xander's words.

Oh yeah. It can fly.

Snapping back to the other members of the party, Xander shouts urgently. "Grab Sarah and run! Run to the stairs! NOW!"

Forced into immediate action by the urgency of Xander's words, Lin and Yuriko lift Sarah by the shoulders and start running, dragging the unconscious woman's heels while they go, Sarah's body facing the direction the other two are fleeing from. Sonia is slowed down by her crossbow as always and Xander, limping while running from the pain of putting pressure on his ankle, grabs up half the weapon's weight to help in mid-stride.

Flustered by the unexplained fleeing, Sonia asks Xander "Why're we runnin'?"

As soon as the words are out of her mouth the sound of a bellowing squawk can be heard coming from directly over the spot the party had just evacuated.

**GW**_**AAAAAAAA**_**RK!**

The thud of the bird's landing is quickly followed by the familiar sound of its pounding run. Sonia's exclamation of "Oh, holy hell!" was the signal of understanding with Yuriko's panicky "Awawawa!" soon following, and the team running even faster than they had been, now that the reason for the urgency was known.

"Turn left up ahead, then right at the clearing!" shouts Xander over the sound of the pursuing bird's running. Lin's group makes the turn ahead of Xander and Sonia who trail a few paces behind. But that still leaves them in last place in the escape, as Xander understands from the constantly increasing volume of the pounding behind him. After making the turn and entering the clearing, Xander hears the sound of turf being torn behind him, the bird making the sharp corner only a few seconds after Xander and Sonia did.

As the party sees the looming stairwell and makes their last dash towards it, Xander can swear he's hearing a panting in his ears that is not his own and hot, moist breath on the back of his head. The stairwell looms larger and larger, and Lin's group has now reached the entrance as Sarah's head starts to wobble and pick itself up. The woman's blue eyes seem to refocus onto Xander, Sonia, and then on what is behind them as the blood drains out of her face in a mute, horrified shock that makes Xander and Sonia both whimper reflexively. They really didn't need that right now.

As Lin and Yuriko pound up the stairs, and Sarah's heels pound the stone steps as she is continued to be dragged, the group disappears from normal view of those still on the second sublevel. Yuriko's panicky cry of "AWAWAWAWA!" still echoes out from the stairway corridor though as Xander and Sonia begin their climb as well. Sonia's breath rasping in her throat from the labored running, and Xander groaning in pain and exertion from every heavy stomp on his injured ankle, trying to get enough height on the stairs to escape the range of the great bird that is so closely behind. The pounding stops, replaced by the rasp of sturdy feathers against stone, a grinding warble, and the snap of a giant beak closing on its target.

The crossbow that both Sonia and Xander had been carrying is yanked out of their hands by the bird that had snapped it's beak onto the stock, Sonia almost thrown off balance and tumbling down the stairway to the waiting bird that tried, and failed, to fit through the passage at the bottom. The only thing that prevented the tumble was Yuriko's swift movement and timely grabbing of Sonia's outstretched and flailing hand. All the team members of Guild Aequitas climb another half dozen stairs and drop exhausted, watching the squawking beast at the bottom of the stairs in paranoia.

After what seems like an eternity, the bird pulls itself out of the corridor, ruffles its feathers with its grinding warble, and takes flight. Another several seconds pass with the party members still huffing, until Sonia, the only member to have been on the second floor before shouts indignantly, "What the hell was _that?_"

# # # # #

"Oh, that was a Largebill," says a Naturalist in the Butterfly Bistro a few hours later, absurdly nonchalant in comparison to the members of Guild Aequitas.

Xander has a splint and icepacks wrapped around his leg. Lin's head is heavily bandaged with an herb pack, the woman studying and mourning her straw hat as she turns it over in her hands. Sonia is completely exhausted, as she had never run so much in her entire life. Yuriko had fallen asleep from fatigue in one of the bar chairs with her head hanging over the back rest and drool dribbling from one corner of her mouth. And Sarah had immediately chugged an entire tankard of ale and dropped her face into a pillow made from her own arms on the bar counter to try and cope with the fact that she hurts all over her body. One can imagine why Xander would have so little humor concerning this late warning.

"I clearly remember that you were at our celebration the other night," says Xander in a voice encompassing a barely contained growl of rage, "So why didn't you warn us about giant man eating birds, whose feathers are used to make armor!"

The naturalist scratches the back of his head in embarrassment while saying, "Well, I'd kinda had a lot to drink that night, and I guess it slipped my mind. But I wouldn't mind telling you about the ecology now."

And so the unlikable man gives a quick lecture on the Largebills of the First Stratum, and how they are everywhere. He is soon interrupted by Sonia.

"Hey, that's bull! I spent a week on the second floor with another guild, and we never ran into one, once!"

"Did you go at night?" asks the naturalist.

"Well…yeah, the boss man insisted. What's so special about night?"

The naturalist cocks an eyebrow as he pushes his glasses back up his nose, a smarmy and triumphant smile on his face. "Well, Largebills immediately go to sleep once night falls, so you don't encounter any after sunset."

"So that's why…? The little weasel coulda said somethin'!"

"Ah," continues the naturalist, "But at night, the Gigapedes come out. The Labyrinth catches you coming and going, huh?"

The Naturalist then starts laughing, earning Xander's complete disgust. Leaving the man's company, Xander stands and limps over to Yuriko to shake her awake.

"Alright everyone," says Xander, declaring an action as if it were fact, "It may be a little late, but we have our info on the second floor. From now on we're working the night shift in the Labyrinth. Let's go back to the inn to rest up. We're going back in tonight. Hopefully the Gigapedes will be more inviting."

_**End Chapter 3**_


	5. Chapter 4

_**~Chapter 4**_

Emperor 3rd

Walking the meadows outside the city, the expansive shade cast by the great tree Yggdrasil cutting the bite out of the warmth of the summer's day, Xander is warmed throughout his being as he enjoys a stroll with his parents. Wordlessly they wander, looking at the fields and houses of the farmers, and down the great slopes that lead to their city at the breathtaking view beyond. Stepping boldly forward, intent on seeing even more of the view, more of the world, Xander suddenly finds his right foot plunging into a gopher hole, causing him to lose his balance and fall over.

With pain shooting up from his twisted ankle, Xander tenderly extricates himself from the troublesome hole before looking up to see the outstretched hands of both his parents.

"Come now, boy," says the father in his casual manner, "A real adventurer won't stay down, no matter how many times he falls."

Following after, Xander hears his mother's commanding, yet kind, voice, "Everyone will help you stand up again, Xander. So stand proudly, my son, for their sake."

Xander looks up into the faces of his parents, though enshadowed by the warm light filtering through Yggdrasil's leaves behind them, their smiles and eyes radiate a kind light that pierces that concealing darkness. As Xander accepts the offered hands, he is pulled upright. The pain in his ankle is fleeting as he plants his feet to stand tall.

"Well done, Xander," says the father as he clasps his son's shoulder, "What do you say we keep walking until it's time to wake up?"

"What?" asks Xander, as his father's voice suddenly raises several octaves at the end of his sentence.

**Knock Knock Knock**

"I said it's time to wake up, boss! You asked for a six pm wake up call."

Xander's eyes flash open as he is roused from his slumber, and props an elbow to help him sit up from where he was laying fully clothed on top of the bedcovers. Looking over to the door of his room in Amon's Inn, Xander sees the young girl that always greets him and his party when they arrive at the establishment. She is halfway in the doorway and had been knocking on the already opened door to provide enough noise to wake Xander who had, much to his own surprise, been sleeping soundly.

"Yes, I'm awake now, thank you," says Xander in dismissal. As the child leaves, Xander lifts himself to sit on the edge of the bed and try to work some of the desire to keep sleeping from his eyes as his mind mulls over the very straightforward dream he'd just had.

"A-no…"

Xander's drowsiness vanishes as he hears that hesitant voice. From having known Yuriko for so many long years, Xander knows her voice instinctively, just as he knows that the young female ninja, the kunoichi, is hidden in his room. Behind the curtains, under the bed, in the closet. There is no need to check those locations as Xander's head tilts back to look at the ceiling directly overhead to see Yuriko as she inexplicably grips onto the ceiling's texture, her body almost flat against its surface.

"You have something you want to talk about, Yuriko?"

Xander asks the question kindly, trying to keep a handle on his feelings of how ridiculous the situation is, despite the number of times he's found himself in it. When Yuriko was first assigned the duty of being Xander's bodyguard he would find her suspended over his bed like that nightly. And more often than was tolerable, though tolerate it he did, she'd fall asleep in the night and plummet face first into the bed, and a sleeping Xander. As the years passed, Yuriko slowly fell into the little sister role that the post had originally been intended to produce and the night guard routine came to an end, but Yuriko still does it every once in a while when she is feeling insecure about something and wants to talk.

Yuriko smoothly and silently, and somehow without causing the mattress to shake from her landing, drops from the ceiling and into a kneeling position on the bed, her legs together and folded under her so that she's sitting on her ankles, a sitting habit she learned before being sent away from her homeland. Xander takes a place in a chair that he faces towards Yuriko's position on the bed.

After a few false starts and some fidgeting, Yuriko finally says what she is thinking. "Xander… I… I think we should leave Armoroad. And go back home."

Xander is caught a little off guard by this, not only because Yuriko seldom complains but she had been ordered on this excursion by Xander's father, whom she looks up to like her own father. It's not like her to think about being disobedient, especially when a formal mission is involved. So Xander pushes for her to voice her reasons.

After a few seconds of silence, Yuriko finally says in a low voice, "Because you… almost died."

Xander takes in the reason and lets out a nervous laugh as he responds. "Oh yeah, the bird. Don't worry, Yuriko, that was just a fluke."

Or at least that's what Xander tried to say, as Yuriko interrupts him with an emotional explosion of dialog. "It's not just that big bird! We've been here three days and you nearly died twice! No one else really noticed because of how badly hurt Sonia was, but you bled so much yesterday when you were attacked by the Lynx. Your shirt was soaked in your blood. And just today…you were nearly eaten...by that…"

Yuriko's voice gets lost in a strangling choke as tears fall from her eyes, and she breaks down into a sob. She had been holding this anxiety in since the day before and now it all began flooding out. Xander feels his heart sink with his understanding, and with recollection. This is the reason he had forced himself to tolerate Yuriko's midnight swan dives into his bed, because every time it happened she broke down into sobbing apologies, begging to be given another chance.

Long ago Xander's father had asked him to never turn Yuriko away, to always try his best to understand her instead of just pushing her aside, no matter what troubles arise. Xander didn't understand at the time, because he was still a child himself, but he was told why. Yuriko has a very strong abandonment issue, from being sent away by her family to live with her Aunt Ayame in a distant nation. It doesn't help that she's a bit of a crybaby, too.

Xander can't just leave her crying, so he gently leans forward and savagely flicks her in the forehead. Catching her startled eye, Xander says confidently, "Do you really have so little faith in me?"

Rubbing the sting out of her forehead, the sobbing having paused, Yuriko responds with a faint, questioning, "Eh?"

Straightening his back in the chair, Xander continues on. "I will admit, things have been rocky, but that's in the past. We've got information on the Labyrinth's wildlife now, and every fight we have teaches us more about the beasts we face. The only thing we lack is equipment, which we will remedy by scavenging the Labyrinth. Things are only going to get better for us from here on out, so don't worry. And I promise that no matter what happens, I'll make sure everything turns out for the best."

"Bu…but…"

"Look, let's give it another day. If the situation doesn't improve then we can talk about this again, but for now, just trust me, okay?"

Lightly ruffling the hair on Yuriko's head, Xander gives her as reassuring a smile as he can, which apparently works as the younger girl finally smiles again. Relieved of her worries, at least for the time being, Yuriko allows herself to be ushered out of Xander's room, leaving him alone to mull over his own words.

"Things will get better, huh?" Xander says to himself, gingerly putting weight on his sprained ankle, trying to get use to walking without a noticeable limp. "I certainly hope so…"

_Day 3 – Emperor 3__rd__, second expedition_

_Entry 1:_

_As the naturalist had informed us, it seems that the Largebill does indeed sleep during the night, as we have not encountered it yet during our second foray into the second subbasement of the Labyrinth. We are indeed making forward progression, but we are struggling to do so._

_We've fended off the attack of another Great Lynx, though we were unable to kill it we did defeat it soundly without suffering any great injury on our part, and gathered the flowers that were requested through the Bistro. Those two successes helped fuel our confidence, which we greatly needed in the fight we've just had with a Gigapede._

_It's name is apt, as I have never seen a creature with such length. When the fight began, the creature did not move to strike us, but instead rippled through our front line grabbing onto our legs with it's own to restrict our movements and then rearing up like a serpent to strike at us after we'd been bound. I would rather not pen the sensation of being caught in such an unsettling attack, but I believe that Sarah suffered its effects worse than I. Even as she struggled to defend our front line from the Gigapede's strikes, I could hear these strangled squeaks coming from her grimacing mouth. I get the feeling she was truly disgusted by the beast to her very core._

_Even though we slew the Gigapede in the end, the fight was long and draining. The chitinous armor of the giant insect turned all but the most desperate of my sword strikes, and I found myself relegated to directing the attacks of the others._

_Our spirits are once again low and it feels like we are trudging through the Labyrinth. It's not a feeling of defeat though. I believe that it is equal parts fatigue and being really grossed out by our fight with the Gigapede._

"C'mon, you guys 're still like that?" asks Sonia, desperately trying to lighten the mood. "I fought a dozen of 'em with my other party. They're just overgrown bugs, is all."

The three members of the front rank of the party's battle line, Xander, Sarah, and Lin wearing her half ruined straw hat, , simultaneously stop walking and look back at Sonia wordlessly, their gazes saying everything. Sarah's gaze is looking especially haggard. After holding the gaze for a few seconds the front rank turns and starts walking forward again.

Yuriko and Sonia are almost left behind by the time they recover themselves from that display enough to hurry back up to the group. Not willing to let the dreadful atmosphere hang about, Lin's down beaten spirit being especially disturbing, and against Yuriko's wordlessly protesting hand movements, Sonia continues.

"It…It wasn't that bad, was it? Cause, the other party I was with never complained about…"

Sonia's words trail off at the soft replies of the front rank, trying to describe the experience.

"There was this soft clicking surrounding me, and with every click those legs would grip harder…"

"It was like a thousand tiny hands were trying to pull me down…"

Sarah herself just shivered in recollection, that act being even more disturbing than the descriptions.

"It was really…that bad…?" Sonia asks, finally being pulled into the group's pervading gloom.

"I could trade ranks with you," says Lin smartly in reply. "Then you could experience it for yourself."

"Ah! No, I'm good! Come to think of it…my other party always wore heavy leather pants on this level…guess now I know why…"

A heavy silence falls on top of the party for several minutes, where the only audible noises aside from the prevalent fireflies were the scratching of Xander's pencil while he drew the map and the rustling of the grass under the team's feet. Just as the mood was beginning to feel inescapable the team reaches a three way juncture in the road, and a cloaked figure approaches them from the dark, a young female, smiling figure.

""Hello," she says in an incongruously cheerful voice, "It is nice to meet you. You must be explorers from Armoroad. You needn't be frightened. My name is Olympia. I am active in helping explorers like you."

_Entry 2:_

_The strange young woman who has identified herself as Olympia gave us a tent and offered her knowledge of campsites that may be found in the Labyrinth. She has also offered to watch over us as we rest. She has given us no reason to refuse her offer of sanctuary, but at the same time there is something about the girl that strikes me as odd. When I questioned her about her motives in giving us aid, freely and without our requesting it, she simply said that she will tell us after we have become as strong as she believes we will be._

_I am most hesitant to accept her offer of standing guard while we rest, as anyone would be if a stranger were to ask if it was okay to watch you sleep. But even more so with this Olympia. She wears no armor or adornments, just a simple cloak, yet offers camping equipment to explorers for free. She is also wearing earmuffs in a tropical jungle._

_In the end, I felt that the weariness of the party was great enough that we had no choice but to rest, and thus accept Olympia's offer of aid. Even with these misgivings I feel._

Xander wakes with a start, inhaling sharply as he surprises himself out of sleep. What startled Xander so completely as to wake himself was discovering the fact that he was asleep in the first place. Xander muses on how quickly he's been falling asleep these days as he crawls out of the tent he'd been sleeping in with the intention to check on his companions.

The tents turned out to be human length, and just wide enough for two, maybe three people to sleep side by side, low to the ground with zippers securing the flaps to keep unwanted and potentially dangerous or venomous lifeforms from sneaking inside. For being so useful, and necessary to navigating the labyrinth, they are quite flimsy and cheaply made. The zipper on one of the tents snapped off completely as it was being set up, forcing the team to dispose of it.

Listening at the flap to the second tent, assigned to Sonia and Lin, Xander hears a set of soft breathing coming from inside. Soft breathing that at one point gets punctuated by a sharp snort, Sonia's by the sound of it, and the rustle of a body shifting into a more comfortable position. Xander also hears a soft "munya" sound come from above. Looking up he sees Yuriko nestled in the nook of a tree branch, sleeping next to some of the yellow birds with blue and green highlights that are commonly seen in flocks in these levels, also deep in sleep.

With those members confirmed, the only person Xander needs to see to is the one sitting on the log in the darkness, a few paces off from the tents. Her almost platinum blond pigtails reflect the star and moonlight almost as much as the tip of her spear, the butt against the ground and bladed head pointed directly at the sky. At Xander's approach, Sarah speaks quietly so as not to disturb the others as they sleep. "I already said that I would take the watch, your Highness. Please rest as much as you can."

"I've already had as much rest as I can stand," replies Xander, equally soft as he sits on the log next to the Hoplite, "And now it's your turn. I'll take the second watch."

After a moment's pause, during which neither of the two people in the conversation had yet to turn to look at each other, Sarah says, "With all due respect, my Lord, it is my duty to watch over you and the others that are currently in your employ. I would be negligent in resting when I didn't need to."

Xander softly repeats the word duty under his breath, annoyed with how stubborn this woman, still young enough to loosely be considered a girl, was being in her self sacrifice. During this slight pause, Sarah turns her head a fraction towards, but still not looking at, Xander and asks in a less disciplined voice, "Is your leg really feeling better?"

"What, you mean from this morning? Of course. There isn't even any pain," lied Xander blatantly as he dipped forward to slap the offending ankle twice, gritting his teeth on the side not facing Sarah, trying to sell the act. While Xander's ankle really was feeling better, direct pressure still hurt quite a bit, and showed when he walked. It's why Xander chose an extra stiff pair of boots for the expedition that night, to cover the injury by not having either ankle bend once during their time in the Labyrinth. A successful falsity, as everyone on the team believed Xander when he claimed to be recovered and uninjured, which left them in good spirits. Except possibly for Sarah. Xander doesn't look at her to see if she believes the lie, unwilling as he was to be the one to lose this unspoken contest of not making eye contact.

Xander still has no idea if Sarah believes him or not when she softly, yet candidly says, "Your Highness, I request that you please stop pushing yourself so hard."

Without waiting a beat, Xander sternly says, "That's my line."

Not expecting to be the one spoken to in an admonishing way, Sarah asks the word "What" in a startled tone, instinctively looking towards Xander after having consciously kept from doing so for so long.

"This morning, at the shortcut while we were retreating, you turned to face the Largebill with the intention of dying. You were going to fight to the death so the rest of us could escape."

Sarah inexplicably feels the need to rationalize her action at that time, as if she had been caught misbehaving by a teacher, even though she is certain in the moral strength of the action she took. "I… Well, it's only natural for a soldier to sacrifice herself to save her unit, or her Lord…"

Xander cuts her off, still lecturing, still not looking at her. "In a war, yes. But right now you are not a soldier, you are an explorer in my Guild, and I will not have you or any other member sacrificing themselves for any reason." Finally turning his head to face Sarah, she is caught by Xander's eyes. For the first time, on this journey or even before, she sees Xander bearing the hard eyes of a ruler, a Lord issuing an order with absolute moral superiority and command. "I will not allow you to burden our Guild with your death. If you ever try to do something so selfish and foolish again, I will expel you from the Guild and send you home on the next ship out. Do you understand?"

Sarah nods dumbly, her voice lost to her.

"Good," says Xander, his tone softening slightly, "And now, Labyrinth Guard Sarah, go into that tent and get some sleep. I know you are tired from protecting everyone behind your shield all night, and I need you rested. This is an order."

With a mumbled "Yes, sir" Sarah stands and begins making her way to the vacant tent with a complicated mix of feelings, one of them being relief since she really was very tired. Sarah hadn't gotten three paces before Xander's voice stopped her.

"Sarah. Olympia over there," Xander indicates the figure in the far corner of the spacious camp site with a nod of his head. "Has she moved at all from that spot?"

"Not that I recall, Sir…"

Thanking her, Xander lets Sarah head off to get some rest and studies the dark haired mystery girl, Olympia, from this distance. That was the same tree the girl was leaning against when they entered the camping ground, over ninety minutes beforehand according to Xander's pocket watch. And unless his eyes lied, Olympia's posture and the position of her feet were also unchanged.

Left to fill the time during his turn on guard duty, Xander spends it contemplating Olympia. She has that oddly disjointed appearance, and goes out of her way to provide gifts and aid to explorers who do not necessarily require it. Well…common sense dictates that you should help others whenever you can.

"There is no such thing as common sense in a Labyrinth," says Xander to himself, repeating his father's words of warning. There is something very odd about that girl, and she has to be working some kind of angle. Xander continues to ponder her off and on as the watch stretches out, watching Olympia off and on as well.

She still hadn't so much as shifted her stance an hour later when the party broke camp to return to their exploration, the night still deep around them.

_Entry 3:_

_While it is technically the morning of the 4__th__, I do not like holding to semantics, and will be including this as an entry of the expedition begun on the 3__rd__. I believe I shall be following this entry style for the rest of my time in this Labyrinth._

_After breaking camp and heading back on our way, the party has successfully mapped the entirety of the northeast quarter of the second sublevel. This includes the nests of a few more Greedy Lizards, as the other explorers have taken to calling the FOEs on this level. At approximately five in the morning we uncovered another shortcut that allows the bypassing of the near gauntlet of Greedy Lizard paths we have thus far been forced to travel through. It also allowed us to make our way towards the ascending staircase to exit the Labyrinth before sunrise and the awakening of the Largebills._

_While the Gigpedes are unpleasant to fight, they are infinitely more manageable than the Largebill. We faced another three before leaving this level, and I can safely say that my earlier impressions were accurate. Sarah finds the things revolting with all her heart._

_We were half way through the first sublevel when dawn broke, nearly at seven in the morning sharp. I have to admit, I smiled at just how perfectly timed everything went. I finally feel like we're making progress._

Xander closes the journal after finishing the last sentence of his entry, and waits silently for Edie to finish handing off the Small Flowers that had just been sold to the woman to be passed to whatever unidentified people worked "in the back" to process raw materials into merchandise for Napier's Firm to sell. Something must have come up while Edie was back there, for Xander had not only had the time to write his latest entry in the Guild's journal, but enough time to marvel at the sheer amount of filth that still clung to his boots from the mud pits the party had been forced to wade through, with more of the same being likely in the near future.

"Ankle or no, seems I'll be wearing these boots for a while yet," Xander says to himself, being the only member of the party not resting at Amon's Inn.

Just as Xander had begun trying to remember where he had seen the long shield leaning against the back wall before, Edie reenters looking as slippery a businesswoman as ever, all smiles. A part of Xander wonders if Edie had just been killing time to make him feel unimportant.

After a thank you from the woman for the swift reply to her posted Quest at the Bistro, Edie and Xander get to the trading of the other materials the party had found during their night in the Labyrinth. Finishing the inventory and adding the numbers, Edie passes the sheet of paper to Xander saying, "It comes to about this much."

Looking at the sheet of paper, Xander studies the numbers and remarks, "It's a little low."

Edie releases that annoying giggle that almost sounds like a squeaky door hinge. "Ni-he-he-he-he, I'm so sorry, my honored customer. How many thousands of ental would you like for a few poisonous tails and an insect's jawbone?"

Completely ignoring the woman's patronizing sarcasm, Xander flips to the final pages of Guild Aequitas' journal, spins it around, and points at the table of items and their prices listed in the back. "By 'a little low," I meant you were trying to scam me. I stopped by the Senatus to get a feel for the prices of scavenged items before coming here. You can never be too careful in a new market."

Xander says the last words with the impact of an arrow strike. Edie's false smile looks even falser as she tries to smooth the situation over. "Well, you can't blame a beauty for trying to get ahead a little."

"You're right, I can't" says Xander smoothly, enjoying the situation, "But I'm sure there are others that would. What do you say you give me a special price on a few custom orders and I keep the story of 'The Beauty That Tried To Get Ahead" to myself the next time I'm at the Bistro…?"

Her smile straining even further, Edie replies through clenched teeth, "Anything for an honored customer…"

# # # # #

Sarah is quietly sharpening her spear's tip on a bench near the entrance to Amon's Inn, enjoying the air and the afternoon sun. Enjoying it as much as she can, having slept such unnatural hours and preparing for another journey into the Labyrinth. And with such flimsy equipment, too. With a sigh, she recalls for the hundredth time since arriving how vexing it is that no one was allowed to transport any of their actual weapons or armor when they embarked on the sea journey to Armoroad, the monopoly holding shipping company in the port putting such paranoid security measures into place to avoid any hijackings or the arming of a disgruntled crew.

While it would be easier for her to watch over her Lord Xander with proper equipment built to be used in a Labyrinth, instead of the soft material of this spear and her tiny shield, Sarah will still fulfill her duties. No matter what her Lord thinks.

"Ah, Sarah, how convenient."

A little spooked, as if her inner self believed it had summoned him, Sarah jumps in her seat on hearing Lord Xander's voice coming from behind her. Almost scrambling into a standing position, Sarah turns and salutes in respect to her Lord, trying to make up for her guilt of having a denigrating thought about him.

"I'm so sorry, my Lord, I didn't know you were there!"

Swallowing the thought "Were you doing something you wouldn't want me to know about," Xander puts out a placating hand and asks Sarah to be at ease. "I just wanted to give you something before nightfall. I expect that you'll want to use it right away."

Xander holds out a paper and twine wrapped parcel of a respectable size to Sarah, who hesitates in taking it from the unexpected nature of the situation. Even after taking the parcel Sarah can only numbly ask the incomplete question of, "What…?"

"It's a dress," replies Xander modestly, almost matter of factly, to the unfinished question. "Or more specifically, one suited to combat and the adornment of armor. I had Edie at Napier's get it ready. Since we're in the tropics, switching to cotton is a good idea. And the jacket has some padding to prevent bruising from the heavy armor we'll be buying in the future. Most importantly, though, the skirt is braced for the placing of an extra layer of armor above that of a set of greaves. And since it stands out a bit from your legs you won't be feeling the pressure from those ensnaring Gigapede legs as much as before."

While Xander was talking, Sarah had begun the preliminary work of untying the parcel until the deep brown of the fabric had just been exposed, but freezes when she hears that last sentence. Looking up, she once again asks a completely inarticulate question. "How…?"

"You're easier to read than you think, Sarah. During that last fight with a Gigapede you looked like you were about to cry. If you dislike bugs that much you should have mentioned it sooner, we could have come up with a preventative measure. Besides, having a shortcoming is not a weakness. That's what comrades are for, filling in the gaps where we ourselves are lacking. So never hesitate to ask for help when you need it."

Sarah is struck speechless. She hadn't expected this kind of insight and practical wisdom from her Lord. Xander had never displayed any leadership qualities before coming to this small tropical island. Looking into her Lord's eyes, Sarah only sees a pair of straightforward and honest eyes looking back, as if such a thought filled and supportive gift meant nothing because it was the right thing to do. Because it was just natural.

Sarah can only say the words "Thank you." But that seems to be enough as Xander nods, says that Sarah is welcome, and leaves with his apologies in order to prepare for the night ahead. With Xander gone, Sarah stares a long time at the visible fabric of the dress she had been given with a troubling thought weighing on her.

Wasn't Sarah the one who was suppose to be watching over Xander?

_Day 4 – Emperor 4__th_

_Entry 1:_

_We are making excellent time today, having followed our pre-charted courses and using the shortcuts we've been finding to the utmost. Only a few hours have passed and we are already back in the northern section of the second sublevel where we had to suspend our activities the night before. The speed at which I am mapping the Labyrinth has also increased since I am now using the special order bracer I asked Edie to make for me this morning._

_It has no value as armor, but has a slot sewn into the material allowing me to slide a folded sheet of mapping paper into place letting me update the map as we walk while leaving a hand free to hold my shield. I'm also able to make the lines and landmarks on the map more accurate since having the paper attached to my arm improves the stability of the writing surface. It's quite helpful, so much so that I wouldn't be surprised if more adventurers started using one._

_But there is something that is bothering me right now. It has nothing to do with the labyrinth, though._

_Is this what gossiping is?_

"Ahhhh, Sarah sure is lucky, ain't she?" says Sonia in a playfully longing tone, "Getting' such a nice dress as a gift."

"It's not a gift," says Sarah defensively, perhaps for the tenth time, "My Lord simply obtained a piece of equipment for my use…That's all."

"Even so," says Lin with the mischief of one trying to throw fuel on a fire to watch it burn, "When that equipment is a dress you can't just consider it another piece of gear. Especially when it's fitted so well."

True to Lin's observation, the brown dress Xander had ordered was tailored to the centimeter. Xander had not requested such a thing, but Edie's eyes and attention to detail was apparently so great that the woman had retained a mental measurement of the Prince's companion for use. The first Xander knew of it was when he saw the tailoring fee on the invoice. When Xander tried to complain, Edie had confidently stated that should he be dissatisfied with the fit she would give a full refund of the fee. Even when Xander had gotten an advantage over the woman, Edie had still found a way to turn a surefire profit. How formidable.

"I-It's not a dress," Sarah says, feebly resisting, "It's just a combined top and skirt meant for wearing into battle."

"A combined top and skirt are called a 'dress,' ya know?" replies Sonia, the taste of a fresh victory in her mouth.

"Even though it's used for battle," says Yuriko cheerfully, "That dress looks really good on you!"

"It's true; earth tones really suit you, Sarah," offers Lin, who is right. With Sarah's naturally tan complexion, the deep brown of the battle dress complements her quite well, and even inadvertently served to highlight her blond hair. Unexpectedly, Edie has a good taste for fashion when it comes to people that aren't herself. "You're actually slimmer than I thought you'd be."

Up until now Sarah had been wearing simple loose traveling clothes, though this dress offered no better defensive value, when worn without the baggy and padded jacket the material for the top half is rather form fitting. Sarah was already blushing and trying to stammer out some half finished though to try and change the subject when Sonia bluntly says, "And you got some boobs on ya', girl. I thought you were as flat as Lin and Yuriko."

Xander, who had been quiet the entire time, trying his best to disappear into the background is suddenly struck with a primal urge to escape as the gates of hell burst open and the women turn on Sonia in unison. What followed could only be described as a battlefield of words.

Sarah, forgetting that she had been on the defensive about the gifted dress makes the first strike with a straight forward clash using the observation that size isn't everything, to which Sonia counterattacked that even _if_ it wasn't everything, size was still very important.

Lin attempted a flanking maneuver by saying that the size of a woman's chest meant nothing if she had a lot of extra weight, which was typically a requirement for having a large pair up top, and that being slim was more desirable. Lin lightly pinches Sonia's bare mid riff as she does, dealing a critical blow. Sonia quickly reorganized her battle lines to head off this charge by stating that what was pinched was only flesh and not fat, as her quickly quoted measurements proved valid. And even if she _had_ a little extra weight, it was better to have a set of curves than having a body as flat as a man's, pointing the artillery of insinuation towards Lin's position, following with the declaration that only a pedophile would be interested in a woman bearing such a body.

The only member of the battle who spoke without venomous words was Yuriko, who firmly maintained a defensive position and fortified it with the observation that she was still in her developmental stage, a position that Lin soon joined her own forces with as she developed her next strategy. It was at this point that the neutral party in this war was pulled in with a devastating sneak attack by Sarah, confirming all of Xander's fears about the procession of the conflict.

"Well, let's just ask Lord Xander."

Sonia quickly agreed to this concession, confident of a swift victory. And so, all the hostile intentions that had arisen between all the sides in the conflict had gathered, waiting and willing to destroy the neutral side for any infraction of their temporary peace accord. Thinking carefully, knowing that his continued peaceful existence was on the line, Xander marshals all his calm and makes the announcement that will try to win the war.

"I believe the figure I would like the most…would be the figure of whatever woman I fall in love with."

"Oi!" protests Sonia, "What kind'a answer's that?"

The combined forces are on the verge of attacking, but Xander retains his composure with great willpower and continues on. "I'm more interested in the personality of a woman, and her demeanor. Any man that tries to find a partner based only on her looks will find nothing but misery. So I'm afraid it is impossible to answer your question with anything but an 'I don't know yet.'"

Somehow this seems to placate all sides involved, and an uneasy truce begins to settle as the party continues their journey, minus the arguing, as the ladies try very hard to believe what Xander said against all evidence to the contrary in the male half of the species in general. Xander feels the release of the tension in the air the most, because he knew that if he had said the unedited truth, that he's not a fickle enough man to have a "type" and likes all women equally, he would have been annihilated as an enemy of womankind.

The silence lasts a great deal of time, and is only broken when Sonia decides to bring up an old matter once again, "Ahhhhhh…I wish some guy would buy me a nice dress too…"

At this remark, Lin starts snickering before breaking down into a convulsive laughter. When Sonia pointedly asked what it was, Lin forces out the comment, "Sonia wants a Sugar Daddy!" at which point Xander and Sarah burst into uncontrollable laughter as well.

"That's not what I meant at all!" denies Sonia. "I just meant it'd be nice if Xander bought me somethin' too! C'mon, boss," says Sonia in mock sweetness, preferring to be making jokes instead of being laughed at, "Pwetty pwease?"

"Alright, sure."

The party is stunned at the quick agreement, with Lin already pondering what she should ask for as a gift while Xander is in a giving mood, as Sonia asks, "Seriously?"

"Of course. Just as soon as I finish paying off your _bar tab,_" quips Xander.

Lin is nearly destroyed by this turn of events, and is left doubled over laughing. Before matters could continue, Yuriko innocently asks, "What's a Sugar Daddy?"

Each member of the party starts looking at the others with a look on their face saying, "I don't want to tell her, do you?" Eventually the team just starts walking again, awkwardly trying not to make eye contact with each other. Finally Yuriko tries to confront the others by saying, "It's something gross, isn't it? People only do that when they don't want to talk about what they just said."

Yuriko begins the long process of pouting in the uncomfortable silence, which soon gets broken when Lin asks, "Did that tree just move?"

Lin's pointing finger indicates the shape in the center of the party's current path. While it is not unusual for there to be saplings or small trees struggling to survive in the well trod paths, formed by animals and adventurers alike, this particular tree has a slightly unusual shape once brought to one's attention. It doesn't appear to have any branches or leaves, and is shaped like a closed flower sitting on a stump. A few seconds after beginning his scrutiny of the object, Xander definitely sees it waddle in their direction.

"Watch out!" cries Xander reflexively, just in time for the party to be prepared for the creature's attack with a dozen long vines, writhing like nimble tentacles. In mid swing, one of the vines is instantly sliced at the center, a violet trail of motion following after. The rest of the vines fly with startling rapidity, forcing Xander and Lin to take refuge behind Sarah and her upheld shield to try and avoid taking the brunt of the attack. Even with this protection, the members of the front line are taking multiple whip-like lashes.

"Yuriko, Sonia, concentrate on attacking!" shouts Xander just before taking a lash to the temple, knocking him off balance.

Lin waits a few moments before catching sight of a few slower moving vines, and attacks violently with a downward swing of her wooden mace, crushing the floral appendages into the ground just before taking a lash to the back of the head. Getting her balance back, Lin rubs at the smarting wound, and then cries with urgent realization, "It stole my hat!"

In the grip of a vine being swiftly drawn back to the main body is clearly Lin's straw hat, on the verge of being crushed in addition to the mangling it suffered in the fight with the Largebill. Lin's eyes follow the path of the hat as it is brought up into the air and deposited into the momentarily unfurling flower, before the petals close again with a crunch.

As Sonia's bolt strikes the stump-like base of the creature, a soft shriek emanating from the closed petals, Xander tells Sarah that they need to get closer to finish the fight. With a quick nod, the Hoplite starts moving forward in a steady advance, determined not to give any opening against the thrashing vines. Sarah counts her blessings when another violet flash severs two more vines in mid flight. But this sudden pain seems to cause the plant beast to choose a different action.

In an almost intricate dance of movement, the remaining vines twirl and intertwine like the strands of a rope to form one large swaying form, which is quickly swung at Sarah. Calling out for the others to duck, Sarah plants her feet and tilts her small shield while bracing it against her shoulder. As the vine hits, Sarah's teeth rattle against the impact, though with a twist of her hips and a shift of her shoulders the follow through of the blow goes up and over her head, and the heads of Xander and Lin who dash under the upraised club made of combined vines.

Moving just a step faster than Lin, Xander puts all his strength into a single swing that comes down diagonally into the thickest part of the creature's petals, cutting deep and getting stuck in the flower's pulp. Almost like he'd anticipated this, Xander puts his second hand on the hilt of his sword and shifts his weight, the trapped sword acting like a lever to pull the flower beast off balance and immobilized long enough for a second bolt to impact the trunk, striking deep into the pulp. The movement of the vines slow, which even now struggle to disentangle to attack all these surrounding enemies, but they do not cease until after Lin's baseball style swing into the beast's trunk causes the sound like a dozen stalks of celery being broken in half at once, and the creature's movements stop altogether.

Using a foot on the corpse to brace himself, Xander extricates his sword even as Lin hurriedly calls Sarah to apply her spear to a particular point. Thinking for a moment, Xander ponders the vines this creature had been using to attack with. They seemed as sturdy and flexible as any rope he had seen. Perhaps Edie could use some?

Turning to face Yuriko, the party's scavenger, Xander asks, "Yuriko, do you think you have a bird on your head."

That's not what Xander had intended to say by any means, but his thought process had been derailed mid-sentence by the presence of one of those yellow feathered birds perched directly on top of Yuriko's head, neither the bird nor the girl minding the other. Sonia looks over with a "when did that get there" face, even though the two are always standing by one another in the back row.

"His name's Tanpopo," says Yuriko happily.

"What?"

"It mean dandelion," comes Yuriko's reply to what she presumed Xander's question was about.

"No, I mean…why is it on your head?"

"Because I made friends with him last night while we were camping, and he came over to see me when we came back tonight."

"But…why is he on-"

Xander's repeated question is cut off by a crunch shortly followed by a yell from Lin. Turning to see, Xander is quickly able to understand the situation, much to his disappointment. Apparently Sarah had been prying open the flower beast's internal jaw with her spear as a lever so that Lin could reclaim her straw hat. That was the rending sound of the jaws being opened. After retrieving the hat, Lin was none too happy with its returned condition. In addition to the large bite taken out of the brim the day before there is a long row of large holes where the jaw clamped shut. The hat itself is folded in half and misshapen from the broken straws, and the entire thing is covered by plant liquids. Whether they are the creature's lifeblood or saliva is unknown, but the straw hat is now completely ruined and unwearable.

After her initial cry of frustration, Lin turns to show the others the hat saying, "This is why we can't have nice things!"

Sonia quickly mumbles, confused, "That hat was a nice thing…?"

"Ummm, sorry to bother you! Could I speak with you for just a few moments?"

The hesitant voice comes from Xander's left, from the more open part of the large glen the party had been fighting near. Turning to see, Xander finds that he's looking at an Astrologer, a young blond haired girl wearing the metal equipment and fabric garb of a Zodiac explorer, seemingly too large on her. The cloak of a registered Zodiac is opened all the way up to the neck, showing that she is wearing a high trimmed shirt revealing her midriff and a pair of black hot pants with extra long lace to make up for the short length of the legs. Despite the bold sense of style she has, the young girl, who seems just shy of Yuriko's age, seems more hesitant and worried than bold.

"Yes, please," says Xander as kindly as his reeling mind can handle, "I would actually welcome an interruption right now."

With Xander's permission given, it seems like the girl's confidence is bolstered enough, as a torrent of words streams from her mouth.

"I'm Hypatia, an astrologer with the Murotsumi guild, and I'm in some real trouble…Agata, a young ninja in the guild, got carried away and went deep into the forest all by himself!"

The girl pauses momentarily to massage her temples with her slender fingertips and sighs deeply.

"I can't find him, and I've looked everywhere… I was hoping maybe you happened to see him… He's an excitable little ball of energy. Have you seen any young ninja like that?"

Displeased to have to dash the desperate hope the young girl has in her eyes while asking the question, Xander has to answer her truthfully. "I'm afraid I haven't, even though I'm meeting far more people in this Labyrinth than I thought possible."

"I see. Where in the world could Agata have gone…?"

The girl's brow furrows, then raises as she addresses you again, her expression bright.

"Hey! If you don't mind, um, maybe you could do me a favor? If you happen to see Agata while you're out here, could you tell me where you saw him?"

Hypatia's blonde hair again sways violently at the intensity of her request. The sheer amount of emotional investment in the girl's request seems somewhat off putting but Xander just gives a kindly half smile and says, "This Agata must be very important to you if you're willing to ask such a favor of complete strangers. My answer is yes, I'll definitely tell you if I see him."

The girl, Hypatia, finally smiles and joyfully expresses her gratitude. Xander can't help but notice how much better she looks without the worried frown on her face.

"In that case, I'll head back to Armoroad. I'll be waiting at the inn. I'm counting on you…!"

The party gives Hypatia a warm departure, taking this as an opportunity to introduce themselves since Hypatia had been in such a hurry before. The hopeful and worried girl departs with warm feelings and even turns around to wave back after she had traveled into the distance to say goodbye one more time. Once the girl was lost to view, Sonia saunters up to Xander, throws an elbow around his neck like they were old drinking buddies and says, "Looks like you're the kind'a guy that can't turn down a skirt after all. So, about that gift…?"

_Entry 2:_

_Against all odds, we've discovered the stairwell to the next level before even beginning our charting expedition into the southwestern corner of the second sublevel. This is mainly due to our diligence in checking the lairs of the Greedy Lizards, but it is quite a coup. Knowing the stairway's location and a nearby shortcut means that we have all but conquered this level. We just need to finish the map to make sure we have missed nothing of value._

_Entry 3:_

_Lin seems to be getting tired more quickly than the rest of us. I can only assume that this is because of her healing techniques. While they appear to be based on pressure points within the body, I get the feeling she is putting more of herself into these healing techniques than one would normally assume. Literally._

_I've overheard Lin talking about Qi in terms of her training at the temple, that it is some form of internal energy. Could she be redirecting her own life force using specific paths inside the body to heal us? Could this same technique be what allows that old man we saw at the temple to be so vital and dangerous at an age comparable to that of the Minister from my own kingdom, who is nearly bedridden and can now only enjoy the world through his books?_

_Just the concept of such a longevity technique, an inner fortification technique, is worth inquiring about._

_Back to Lin though, we nearly had to return to Armoroad early, but some mushrooms we've come across are not only quite delicious, but seem to have given Lin her second wind. I guess it's true, an army marches on it's stomach._

_Entry 4:_

_I may never eat mushrooms again._

The memory of the carnivorous mushrooms is still hanging onto Xander as Edie finishes the inventory list of the items being turned in today. The haul was good since there was no time lost staying at the camp site this night, and larger bands of hunting wildlife had been crossing their path, meaning more scavenged parts for sale. But aside from earning money, what Xander is really hoping for is earning the right to buy some better weapons and armor from Edie. Xander nearly holds his breath as he's waiting for the final tally and announcement. As two other bodies are as well, imitating his movements.

Turning his head, Xander sees Yuriko and her new pet, Tanpopo, just to his side looking over his shoulder, Tanpopo doing it _from_ a shoulder. More confused than startled, Xander asks, "What are you doing here?"

"Oh! It'd been a while since I've seen Ms. Edie, and I wanted to introduce her to Tanpopo."

With a laugh, Edie begins small chatting with Yuriko about the bird before asking if Yuriko was interested in selling him. Yuriko laughs and says what a great joke it is. Xander swallows the thought that a woman like Edie doesn't make that kind of comment as a joke. Finally the woman returns to the tally after discovering there is no profit to be made.

"Well, here is the final sum," says Edie sliding a page over to Xander for perusal, "And you've earned the right to purchase the Ooyumi crossbow, much better than the one bought a few days ago, and this dagger, the Main Gauche."

As she says this, Edie pulls a dagger from below the counter and unsheathes it for viewing. Yuriko's attention is instantly fixed on the dagger like she was a game hound.

"Wait a second," says Xander, "You have these ready for instant purchase? If that's how it is then why didn't you let me buy them before now?"

"Well," says Edie with a smile half hidden behind her unfolded fan, "If I were to do something like selling my best equipment to explorers right away, then I'd lose ninety percent of my profit from explorers selling me back their old equipment to buy better items."

Xander's look is filled with a horror he cannot even imagine. How many people have died for the sake of this woman's greed? Just as Xander was about to say something, the woman begins her annoying laughter and cuts him off.

"Ni-he-he-he! That's not it at all. I really do have a limited amount of stock, but I keep one of everything in storage to give my customers an instant reward for their kind labors. Forcing an honored customer to wait even a few hours for their weapons is very bad for business. But at the same time, even the amount of supplies you've brought in this morning will only make a few weapons. Really, the supply and demand are such that I have no other choice. After all, I would prefer to arm all of my customers with the best and most expensive equipment so that they would live long enough to purchase from me another day. One must always look for returning customers."

Xander can barely feel relief from this news, as the fact that Edie can make jokes about something like that is disturbing in it's own right. Changing topics, Xander asks for the prices of the two items. The answer strikes Xander in the gut. He had thought he was doing a good job in terms of funds, saving up a lot of ental, but the combined price of the crossbow and the dagger is more than the guild currently has in funds. Just as Xander is trying to figure the price of resold equipment and rent at Amon's Inn, Yuriko looks up at him with large hope filled eyes and says, "Nee, can we get the dagger? Please?"

The pure emotion in the desire for a weapon, being dichotomous on its own, was made even more ridiculous by the fact that Tanpopo seemed to be looking at Xander with hope filled eyes as well. Just how smart is that bird?

"Yuriko," says Xander in his kindest tone to try and ease the disappointment of not being able to buy the dagger, "I'll definitely buy you that dagger, but not right now."

Before Xander was able to finish his sentence Yuriko had the dagger in hand and was out the door saying, "Yaaaaay! I'm gonna show Sarah and the others!"

In the wake of Yuriko's departure, the only sound was of Tanpopo's flapping as he struggled to catch up to the girl, and Xander's heart breaking. Edie's greedy smile takes on a new sinister look, telling Xander what he already knew. There is no way he's getting out of the store without paying for that dagger.

# # # # #

Dreading the welcome he'll have when he enters Amon's Inn, knowing that Lin and Sonia will interpret that dagger as a "gift" to Yuriko, Xander is pacing in the park in the city's center, just out of viewing range of the Inn. Hopefully the rest of the party will be asleep by the time he heads back and he can avoid the worst of the situation, and hopefully avoid being forced to buy the other two women presents with the guild's dwindling funds.

"Ah, hello, Boss!"

The unexpected voice behind Xander catches him off guard as he turns to face it, unconsciously breathing a sigh of relief when he sees who it belongs to. It's the girl that works at the front in Amon's Inn.

"I was hoping I'd run into you while I was running my errands, Boss!"

"Really? Why?" asks Xander as the child quickly closes the distance.

"Well, a message came for you last night after you'd left for the Labyrinth. It seems the port has your boat ready. That's so incredible! Your guild is being given a boat by the Senatus! That's a real honor, only a few guilds are…"

The girl goes on like that for a while, words mingling together as they jumble out on top of one another. Until Xander hears the child say something interesting.

"Wait a moment, you said people will be envious of us? Why is that?"

"Huh? Well apparently you can make a lot of money charting the sea for the Senatus. And the fish you catch even a little ways away from the port sell for a lot more than what we catch around here. And I hear they're really tasty too. Ahhh, I'd love to try cooking some of the…"

And the words are jumbled and nearly unintelligible again as the child loses herself in the excitement of her "Boss" being given such an honor. Xander wasn't listening in the first place though. Interrupting the child once again, he asks her, "Hey, can you do me a favor? When you get back to the Inn, would you tell the rest of my party to meet me at the docks right away?"

It seems the Guild's money problems have been solved.

_**End Chapter 4**_


	6. Chapter 5

Many things have happened to cause this long delay, but primarily my situation in life did not allow me to keep writing while having it be fun. This is a hobby after all. That problem has been remedied, so I'm back. I have also taken this opportunity to re-edit my previous chapters into a more easily readable structure. If you have the desire, please look over my previous chapters once more, and hopefully enjoy them all over again.

_**~Chapter 5**_

Emperor 5th

Stepping into Inver Port, the docks that supply all the trade to the island nation of Armoroad, Xander shifts the paper covered parcel under his arm as he dwells on how unimpressed he is, despite the long ranging and well maintained docks. There had been something of a bustle of activity the day he and the rest of a boatful of potential adventurers had arrived in the port, so he had not noticed at the time, but there is a massive number of unoccupied docks in the harbor. Just as Xander begins to wonder at the absence, a man of advancing age in high quality naval dress with enough graying hair on his head and in his well tended beard to choke a bear approaches him.

"Ah, the Guild Master of Aequitas, I assume. This is Inver, Armoroad's largest trade port. …Or, what's left of it. When the Calamity struck a century ago, the topography changed, and commerce ended."

"I had been wondering why there was so little activity in such a large port," replies Xander, taking in the Harbormaster's words, "But to think the situation has been like this for a hundred years?"

The aged man continues his tale, with a wise nod to the newcomer's insight. "Since then, many have worked to reopen trade routes, but nobody can get ships out past these currents. That's why the Senatus and I are asking explorers to set sail and create new sea charts. The rewards are handsome indeed. If you can chart a course from here to the north, it'll be worth it. I've even gotten them to lend you a ship, exclusively for Aequitas' use. Got a name in mind?"

Xander thinks for a few long moments, being taken off guard by the opportunity to name a vessel, and considers what his purpose is in Armoroad and what he is pursuing. What the name of his guild stands for and how to connect the ship to it. And he replies with sound confidence, sighting the word meaning Virtue to connect with Justice, for the guild's name, and companion to his assigned goal in Armoroad. "She will be named the Virtus."

The Harbormaster nods his head as he makes a note on some paperwork, asking briefly how to spell the word before he continues on absently as he writes on the document. "You're not the first guild we've given a ship to, but most seem to care about the fishing money. You're different, though! We'll be counting on you to restore Armoroad's name as the Ocean City!"

Xander gives a smile that doesn't look forced, though it is, since the reason he's taking to the seas is precisely because his guild is in desperate need of money and materials for equipment. With the calling of a brash "Oi!" behind him, not matching the peace of the early hour of the city, Xander is inwardly relieved to have the subject forcefully changed as the four other members of Guild Aequitas approach from the port's entrance. As Xander expected, the ladies are not happy.

"What's the big idea," says Sonia as she nearly stomps over to Xander, her giant crossbow slung on her back, "Callin' us over here just as we were about to get some shut eye. And why do we have to bring our equipment too?"

The other ladies are also miffed, except for Yuriko, and her passenger Tanpopo on her shoulder, who is still happily caressing her new dagger and humming lightly. Xander catches a disappointed peer from Lin at the dagger while Sonia takes her annoyance out on Xander. Sarah looks more drowsy than angry, though annoyed at being called away from her chance to sleep.

"Please calm down," says Xander in as placating a manner as possible, "I called you all over because we just got the boat the Senatus promised us, and I wanted to get to the seas as soon as possible. We'll be able to sleep all we want once we're on board."

"I'm sold, where's the ship?" says Sarah in a soft muddled voice, obviously only looking for the nearest place to lie down. Sonia on the other hand is undeterred.

"Whoa now, we're not your little slaves," says Sonia as she puts a hand out to block Sarah's path, causing the sleepy woman to turn her irritated eyes at the new person preventing her from getting some sleep. "We're your companions by _choice._ That means we choose when and where we follow you. And just yankin' us around at random don't make us feel like we're an appreciated part of your team, ya'know?"

I knew it, says Xander in his head as he quickly interrupts Sonia's stream of thought by saying, "By the way, because Yuriko and Sarah both got something nice recently, and since I don't play favorites, I decided to get you and Lin a little something as well. Here."

Xander hands the large round parcel to Lin, who excitedly opens it with a suspicion of what is inside. Upon confirmation, she exclaims, "A new straw hat! And it has a ribbon too!" Indeed, while it was not purchased from Napier's Firm, the straw hat was every bit as well made and a fraction of the price, which would easily allow Xander to replace it in the future. It also has a crimson ribbon sewn into it acting as a tie for the hat to be secured under the jaw.

Sonia hesitates a moment after receiving hers, a much smaller paper wrapped product that had been in Xander's pocket, as if not sure the gift was really meant for her, and then silently unwraps it. As she does, her eyes widen in a much more quiet surprise than Lin's, a reaction that was unexpected by all, causing Lin to become more interested in Sonia's gift than her own for the moment. Inside the unwrapped packet is a pair of dark green stone earrings, square with a very simple wave pattern causing the surface to rise and fall. From a distance the earrings would look like they were simple bisected stones, but the pattern appears on closer inspection.

Lin nearly squeals in appreciation of the earrings her friend got and hurriedly forces Sonia to put them in, with back up noise from Yuriko, displacing the simple dull metal studs she was wearing before, Lin's excitement starting to rub off on Sonia. After they are in place Lin exclaims, "Those look great on you! They really go with your eyes!"

"Ah, I was hoping they would," says Xander in an upbeat mood, now that the ladies seem placated. Though Sonia gets an almost confused look on her face as she asks what Xander means by that. He responds by simply saying, "That those earrings would complement your eyes. They're olive green, so I needed a deep color. I was a little worried the earrings would be too drab. Guess I got lucky."

Xander really did get lucky, finding presents like those so cheap, so quickly, and so early in the morning. Both of them together cost less than the straw hat Lin had lost in the Labyrinth. Xander will have to remember the location of that store the Amon's Inn kid told him about, he may need it if the ladies start acting unprofessional about equipment again. Turning to the Harbormaster, Xander asks him to lead the party to their vessel, now that all arguments to the contrary had been successfully distracted.

As Xander and the team begin walking, Lin gives a sideways glance at Sonia, looks again, and makes a knowing "Oh" at the complicated face she is making before giving the tan woman a nudge in the side. "So he's your type, huh?"

"What? No!" counters the Arbalist instinctively, "That's not it at all."

Lin spends the rest of the walk grinning at Sonia. But really, as far as Sonia is concerned she really doesn't feel anything for Xander. It's just that she hadn't really been expecting the guy to actually buy her anything, since Sonia had just been razzing him for fun. For it to actually happen, well, Sonia wasn't really prepared for that. Plus, it'd been such a long time since Sonia had received a gift that she'd forgotten what it felt like. That's all.

"That guy," says an annoyed Sonia to Lin, "He's too nice. He may not be as fragile as I thought he was, but he's just too damn nice. He won't last another week, I tell ya."

"Yeah, sure he won't," answers Lin patronizingly.

# # # # #

The Harbormaster and the party soon arrive at the dock where the newly christened Virtus awaits. As the party nears, the Harbormaster starts giving dimensions and details of the vessel. As a single masted vessel, she's classified as a sloop of exploration, build for speed and survivability instead of war or trade. With a length of just over forty feet, she displaces sixty tons and has a crew of thirty, considered a light crew for sailing day and night but more than enough to handle the rigging and stay well maintained.

On getting to the gangplank the party is greeted by a dashing young man of a comparable age to Xander wearing a pair of gold segmented necklaces visible on his chest through the opening of a loose white shirt with a protective leather vest over top, and a pair of heavy belts, one at the hip and one over the shoulder holding a rapier and pistol respectively. At his waist is a red sash under the belt but over loose brown trousers, and a pair of flared boots to complete the stylishly casual look of his clothes. His black hair is similarly modeled in a carelessly exact way, as the long hair is tied in a ponytail and the bangs drape in long points over the face, precisely located so they do not cover the man's deep blue eyes. He is in every way the image of a child's ideal heroic pirate fantasy, and perhaps that fantasy was what inspired him to become a sailor in the first place.

The young man pads down from the ship to shake the Harbormaster's hand, asking, "Are these them?" After delivering a positive answer, the Harbormaster breaks off from the group as the young man steps forward and offers a hand to Xander, saying, "I'm Reif, the Navigator of this vessel. You must be the Guild leader, Xander. A pleasure to meet you."

Xander replies with his own pleasantries, and the young sailor proceeds to introduce himself to the rest of Guild Aequitas, until he finally reaches Lin at the end of the line. "Hello, a pleasure to meet you, Miss? …Are you feeling alright, you look a little red."

Startled by the question, the deeply blushing Lin exclaims, "Oh. Oh! No, I'm fine. I mean, I'm Lin, not fine. I mean, my name is not 'Fine,' my name is Lin. I mean, my name is Lin and I'm feeling fine…" The conversation stops abruptly, Reif trying to figure out what just happened, and Lin desperately searching for an excuse to explain her behavior. What she decided on is, "I just… I got a new hat."

The conversation stays dead as Sonia halts her desperately stifled laughter long enough to ask Lin, in very audible range of Reif's ears, "So he's your type, huh?" In response, Lin quickly and loudly says, "Hey, what's that over there?" and awkwardly walks in a randomly chosen direction to try and escape the embarrassing nightmare that fell upon her. Reif however looks around at the others as if trying to figure out if that whole thing had really just happened. With the laughter of all the other members of Aequitas as evidence, it seems Reif accepts the awkward event and tries to move back to business.

"So, like I said, I'll be your navigator. My job is to track our position for navigating the seas and to aid you in making your maps."

Sensing a red flag, Xander quickly jumps in with a question. "Wait a moment, my maps? Shouldn't there already be some sea charts for us to use? It has been a hundred years since the Calamity, so there should be no need to start from scratch."

Reif looks a little exasperated as he takes in a breath of air before stating, "There are charts, alright, but we don't have any onboard. And we're not allowed to keep or buy any either. The Senatus confiscates every chart a guild has made before a Senatus Chartered Vessel, or SCV, is turned over to another guild. They don't tell us why, but they want every guild to start clean without depending on their predecessor's work." Reif's voice drops as he finishes the explanation. "Me, I think they just want to keep the knowledge of the sea lanes from getting out."

Xander instantly understands the implication of this thought, keeping traffic lanes to themselves allows the government to sell the sea charts to the traders at a profit, prevent smuggling to a certain degree, and keep piracy to as low a level as possible. Sea lanes would indeed be a valuable national secret, especially to an island nation. But Xander has one more question before they board the vessel. Pointing to the Harbormaster as he spells out the ship's new name to a sailor suspended near the front of the boat, painting it on a name plate that seems to have recently been whitewashed. "Reif, I was under the impression that changing the name of a ship held some form of bad luck. Is it really alright to have me choose a new name so casually?"

Reif pauses, clearly uncomfortable with this particular question, as if it's a question he knows the answer to but does not enjoy giving voice to it. "Under…normal conditions it's considered bad luck…but with us SCVs…we consider it a way to purge the luck of our previous operators when we change hands."

"I don't follow you, Reif. What do you mean?"

Reif hesitates for another moment as he prepares himself to be blunt and honest. "I mean that a misfortune typically falls _hard_ on the guilds that SCV ships get assigned to, either disappearing in the Labyrinth or disbanding under troubling conditions. We don't want our ships to suffer the same fates, so we let the new guilds choose new names in the hopes of getting fresher, better luck."

"Does this sort of thing happen often?" asks Sarah, slightly more awake with worry.

"More often than I would like, that's for sure," says Reif. "Why, we were operating under Guild Lazuli Heart until yesterday."

"Lazuli Heart?" Sonia's voice is heard asking, laced with panic, "What happened to them! They didn't die, did they!"

Slightly flustered by the sudden reaction, not knowing he was the bearer of bad news, Reif tosses his hands up to try and calm the situation as he says, "Oh, no. No. …For the most part, no. Apparently they met some ferocious beast on the 4th floor of the Labyrinth and got torn up pretty bad. The guild leader and the Zodiac were killed. Their Gladiator's in the hospital with a broken leg for the next few weeks, and the rest had the guild officially disbanded."

Thankfully Sonia calms at this news, or perhaps it's more accurate to say all the tension that suddenly exploded in her is released.. "You knew someone in Lazuli Heart?" asks Xander, as gently as such a question can be asked.

"Yeah, the Gladiator, Nate. We joined our first guild, Guild Blacklight, together. When the guild broke up we made a bet ta see who'll make it to the Deep City first. We still have drinks at the Bistro together." Sonia cracks a smile of relief and says, "Thank goodness, the bastard'll live long enough to pay up after I find that place."

The seriousness of the atmosphere is interrupted by the returning Harbormaster who breaks in by casually saying, "…Ah yes, you also need to load food on your ship. Your provisions determine how far you can range. This isn't very tasty, but it'll keep you going. Use it to learn the ropes of charting the sea." And the Harbormaster hands Xander a requisition order for several hundred pounds of biscuit mix.

"What!" says Reif incensed as he yanks the page out of Xander's hand to confront the Harbormaster with. "_Biscuits!_ I _know_ you have better stuff than this garbage! You store the cheese right _there,_" Reif stabs a finger over the Harbormaster's shoulder, "and you're only giving us _biscuits!_"

"You know the rules, Reif," says the Harbormaster in an authoritarian, yet kindly manner, "Changing hands puts you back at the bottom of the requisitions list. And we're in between shipments from the northern islands. I can't do anything for you unless you want to pay for a hundred square meals a day out of your own pocket. The dock's quartermaster will handle your provisions from here."

The two men turn on their heels to walk away from each other at almost the same time, as though it were a well practiced move that they have so often repeated that it makes one wonder how many times they've butted heads with each other. Returning to the party, Reif mutters, "Damnnit, I hoped we'd get lucky this time. Can't even sail a day with that kind'a ration." Speaking normally again, Reif tells the others that he'll introduce the rest of the officers and crew to the guild. And asks if Lin would like to join them or if she'd prefer to keep staring at the deep water buoy while holding her head with both hands.

Heading up first, Xander, Sarah, and Yuriko leave Sonia to the long task of coaxing Lin into coming on board after making an ass of herself. Upon reaching the deck, Xander is greeted by the other three officers of the ship and a number of the normal crew. Xander's first impression of the crew is that they are tradesmen, not warriors, as their slack salutes and varied stances of ease showed. Even though most of them had a weapon of some kind on them the difference between the crew and a man like Reif who even walked in a manner that kept his hands near his weapons at all times, was striking to a royal like Xander who had been taught the art of inspecting troops by his mother from an early age. Even the sleep longing Sarah noticed this right away, concluding that they would be practically useless in a real fight. The officers though are a different story.

The man in the center of the three officers looks exactly like a grizzled and adventure mad pirate. His unkempt deep red hair looks fairly like a lion's mane under the tri-corner mariner's hat and the one good eye not covered by a patch shines with equal parts delight and hunger. The man's sleeveless shirt and vest reveal a large number of faded scars on the burly arms showing that this man is no stranger to danger or pain. The overall impression of the man is that of a shark's soul mistakenly being placed in the body of a human, to the point that one can almost claim the man has nothing but jagged canines for teeth. With a stride forward, the shark looking man clasps Xander's hand in a strong, discomforting grip and says, "Good ta meet ya, Lad. I'm tha Cap'n a this fine vessel, Cap'n Burdock. Welcome aboard. Let me intraduce ya to our Sail Master, this be Desiree."

Burdock takes a side step and lifts a hand to indicate a very noticeable and voluptuous woman with amber hair, halfway between being red and blond. Everything about the woman's choice of clothing is designed to enhance her ideal proportions. The tilt of her round hat accentuating the flow of her wavy amber hair. Her eye catching crimson blouse left open and tied up to show the maximum skin of both the bust line and the waistline with no less than three necklaces drawing attention to her prolific chest. The leather miniskirt and thigh high boot combination to show the lines of her body without showing the body itself. Even the minimalist makeup of eyeliner and lipstick declare the woman as a natural beauty. With a practiced saunter the woman named Desiree steps forward and offers her hand to Xander, not as a handshake, but in a more formal manner. "It's a real pleasure to meet such a handsome man, and a Prince no less."

Xander is instantly kicked into his practiced courtly manner as he takes Desiree's hand and dips down low in a gentlemanly bow before righting himself and gently releasing the hand from his grip. "The pleasure is all mine, my Lady. And I am a mere Lord, nothing so lofty as a Prince."

"Perhaps," says Desiree with an alluring smile, one that Xander takes as a dire warning sign that this woman is very use to getting her way, "But you are certainly more royal than many Royals I've met."

After such ample flattery, or perhaps one sided flirtation would be more accurate, Xander detects a few venomous stares from the shiphands. It would seem the lady has a fan club.

"An' this 'ere is Tabby," finishes Burdock, indicating the final officer of the ship, "Our Quartermaster, Percer, an' Cook."

Tabby is by far the most out of place member of the ship, even more so than Desiree and her explicit showmanship, as Tabby looks to be a twelve year old girl. Even her adventuring garb is like that of a young girl, though being skewed towards being a sailor's look, and the tilt of her cap suggesting a large forehead she will be forced to grow into and the pants under a flowing skirt suggest a complete lack of interest in fashion. The braided pigtails complete the look of a tomboy. The girl happily greets Xander with an awkward curtsy before Reif calls Burdock's attention to hand him the supply requisition, while they were on the subject of the cook.

"Gah, biscuits!" cries the salty buccaneer, "May as well be eatin' barnacles! 'Ere ya go, Tabby, take care of it."

After being passed the requisition, Tabby exclaims, "Aye, aye, Daddy!"

The revelation of relation comes as a bit of a shock to Xander, even though he had briefly considered a connection because of the color of hair shared between the two. But the idea that this shark of a man was capable of having human children still gives one pause, and a disturbing mental image of the parenthood as a result.

"Hoy! What did I tell ya ta call me aboard ship, girl?" The man sounds genuinely angry, and strict in his delivery.

"Oh, sorry," replies the daughter sheepishly, switching immediately back into her energetic mode to say, "I meant to say, aye, aye, Cap'n Daddy!"

"That's a good lass! Off wit'cha now, girl. We be sailing within the hour."

The girl takes the requisition in hand, snaps a poorly practiced salute, and dashes down the gangplank to just barely dodge around Sonia and Lin as they stepped aboard the Virtus, to be followed down the gangplank by Sonia's annoyed shouting.

"Still as crude as ever, Sonia," says Desiree in an exasperated sigh.

Sonia replies with a face twisting grunt, as if she had just stepped in something unpleasant, and replies with an annoyed, "You."

_Day 5 - Emperor 5__th__ ~ At Sea_

_Entry 1:_

_It would seem that both Desiree and Sonia served in the same Guild at one point, by the name of Guild Howitzer. It was this guild that gave Sonia her experience on the second floor. From what I've gathered so far, they both got fired after a few weeks because the guild leader couldn't put up with their incessant bickering._

_Aside from the verbal storm brought up by the two ladies, we have been enjoying smooth sailing. Upon Reif's suggestion we have sailed west for the day, saying the north is charted, the south is over fished, and the east is filled with dangerous tides. I am indebted to Reif for the advice, since we will need to earn back the cost of the biscuit we've been supplied with. Seems SCVs are granted great discounts on seafaring supplies, but they are not free._

_I am also grateful for the bunks that were provided for us. Each of us has been given an individual cabin, walls cobbled out of wood planks and beams that divide up a region of the ship's internals that would have otherwise been one great open space. While Sarah, Yuriko, and I are use to resting in hammocks in these confined spaces due to the sea voyage we undertook to reach Armoroad, I am pretty sure this is Lin's first time on a ship. From the other side of the wall, I heard her fall out of her bunk twice while I was falling asleep._

"Boooooriiiiiing…."

Sonia's audible complaint can be heard around the mid ships as she utters it in one long breath. Even after having slept, woken, and refreshed herself, Sonia has been left with too much free time on the ship. As a passenger there really isn't anything for her to do to make the craft work, and is relegated to the role of simple excess baggage.

Her boss, Xander, is in a cabin working on charts, Lin is off somewhere meditating, and even Sarah offered to help maintain the weapons locker. So here Sonia sits on a crate some mariner went out of his way to haul into place for her, trying to stay out of the way. Even worse, Sonia has to watch that floozy Desiree come around from time to time and have the ship's sails changed every so often to keep up with the wind.

It wouldn't be so bad if the woman gave orders to the sailors like the other officers, but Desiree doesn't issue orders. She manipulates the ship hands into doing the work saying things like, "Oh my, such-and-such a sail looks like it may carry away any time! Do you think we could tighten the watchamacallit brace a little more?" Always saying "we" and then thanking the hands every time they do all the work for her, as if they saved her the trouble of straining her dainty little hands. And the worst part of the whole show is that there is no need for her to act like that, except to stay in practice for when she goes after men she actually wants to land.

The manipulative wench is more of a princess than an actual princess, thinks Sonia bitterly as she watches Desiree leave the deck for some shade with a farewell twiddle of her fingers to the men who have to stay out in the sun, doing the actual _work_.

Perhaps the most vexing thing about the situation is that every time Desiree has the sailors do whatever series of instructions she gives in that sea jargon the ship starts sailing smoother. Even the tart is more useful than Sonia. Sonia knows that she shouldn't let it get to her, seeing as this is the flashy woman's native element, but it just stings to be less useful than a woman that sees everyone else as a tool.

"Hey, Sonia!" says a voice right beside the woman's head, causing a galvanic jerk that knocks Sonia right off her seat before picking herself back up to look at the one that startled the life out of her. Turning her head, Sonia sees Yuriko's upside down face, the girl hanging upside down by her ankles from some netted rigging with her pet bird perched alongside.

"Ah! Sorry," says the ninja girl, almost as startled by Sonia's spill as Sonia herself, "I just wanted to know if you felt like playing, since you looked so bored."

Sonia really couldn't call what the ninja girl had been doing, "play." For a while now Yuriko had been leaping around the upper reaches of the ship's ropes and sails like it was an amusement park. Just watching the girl from the safety of the deck had put a kink in Sonia's stomach.

"Uh, no, I'm fine right here."

"Oh," says the inverted ninja, "Then is it okay if I ask you a question?"

Though mindful of the oddness of having a conversation with a person hanging upside down Sonia still says yes.

"Why don't you consider yourself a part of our Guild?"

Somewhat stunned, Sonia puts on a plastered smile and says, "Hey, now why would you think that?"

Yuriko tilts her head a little, which would have been normal if she were upright but in her current position it causes her hanging hair to sway like a pendulum as she speaks. "Because this morning you said, 'after _I_ find the Deep City.' If you had considered yourself a part of the Guild you would have unconsciously said 'after _we_ find the Deep City.' You don't think we'll still be around when you win your bet."

Silent for a second, Sonia gapes at the upturned kunoichi and her pet, which seems to be arching an accusatory eyebrow. Is it Sonia's imagination or is that bird really judging her? Feeling the need to deny the charge, Sonia says, "Oh, come on. Just that? You're sayin' that because of a single word?"

"Nope," says Yuriko, her entire manner light despite the topic of conversation, "That's just what confirmed it for me. Ever since you joined us you've been keeping yourself distanced, unlike Lin. Lin smiles and has fun with us while we're in the Labyrinth. The only time I see you really smiling is when you're drinking at the Butterfly Bistro with the other adventurers. You act friendly enough to get by, but you are not being open with yourself at all. You're purposely keeping yourself distant from us so that it will be easier to cut ties later on. You treat us just like how the crew of this ship treats the guilds they are assigned to."

"Oi…that's…" Sonia finds herself stumbling over both her words and her thoughts. Is it true that she thinks like that? I mean, she is just a hired explorer, the contract says so. A person that can be fired and replaced on a whim. She likes the other members well enough, but…is this kid right? Did she see something in Sonia that she didn't see in herself?

"How…did you see…?"

Yuriko jumps on top of the question so that Sonia doesn't have to finish it, with a smile like someone taking pride in their workmanship. "I'm a ninja, so of course I have to watch everyone around Xander to learn their motivations. How else do you watch for assassins?"

Sonia's mouth is agape, the jaw working slightly as her blank mind tries to think of something to say, it's her turn to talk after all, but no sounds come out. So Yuriko continues on, saying what she wishes. "Xander is just like his dad, he sees the Guild as a family. Everyone is precious, and no one is replaceable. The day we arrived on Armoroad, he didn't hire you because you just happened to be there. He hired you because he has confidence in you, and that you will make it all the way with the rest of us until we reach his goal."

Finding herself unable to think of anything else to say, Sonia asks, "What _is_ his goal?"

Yuriko pauses for a moment and says, "I don't know. I know it's not the Deep City, but something bigger and more important. Xander sees the Deep City everyone else is striving for as an objective, but not a goal. But what he really wants…I don't know. He hasn't said, and it's kind of hard for me to read him like I do other people."

Before anything else could be said the call of "Land Ho!" is heard from the lookout in the tops.

_Entry 2:_

_We have caught sight of land, much to the malaise of the crew. It is apparently a well known landmark amongst the mariners, though no one lands there. It is called Skandalia Lighthouse, and is apparently the roost of some giant beast that spends it's time patrolling the seas directly east of it's nest. It had apparently been there for decades, preventing any approach from the east by destroying boats and carrying off crew for meals._

_When I asked why no one attempted to land from the other compass points, the north, south, and west, I was told that the rocky shoreline and cliff faces only allowed two natural harbors. The large one to the east, and a small one on the west. But the west side of the island apparently blocks some of the new, vicious, and unnaturally unending sea currents battering the cliff faces and causing deadly whirlpools. Not one ship had successfully navigated Skandalia Island's west face since the Calamity._

_When I asked why a more well armed expedition of war ships made no attempt on the east face Reif explained just how such a move would end. With a dozen dismasted vessels and hundreds of dead before they even got close to the harbor. The Armoroad Navy can fight off pirates, but they have no way to defend against an enemy that can swoop down upon them from above. It's an impossible military situation, leaving Skandlia Island an impregnable fortress and the lighthouse another of Armoroad's lost treasures._

_A treasure important enough for the Senatus to issue a cash bounty for any Guild that finds a way to reach it. A bounty tempting enough for me to at least look for a possible solution._

_But not today. Just as Reif said before, none of us can stand eating this biscuit any longer. We are heading back to port to get a real meal. Thankfully the fishing lines the ship had been dragging caught enough fish for use to make a small profit on this excursion._

_But without a proper food source on the seas we will not be able to get anywhere worth going to._

_Entry 3:_

_The Harbormaster is intrigued by my interest in Skandalia Lighthouse and suggested seeking out the Marines set up on one of the northern islands. It seems they are used as farmland in this place where arable land is scarce. More important though is that the Harbormaster is impressed enough by the decision to pursue a route into Skandalia that he gave us a form that will allow us to get a few loads of dried peas from the marines stationed to the north. We're to bring most of them back to Armoroad, and in return the Harbormaster will bump us up on the requisitions list and give us the right to purchase peas from here on._

_It does not sound substantial, but it is better than chewing on hard bread three times a day._

_The entire crew has been given an hour of leave to eat a meal before gathering at the Virtus again and setting out for the northern islands._

_Entry 4:_

_Our hold is filled with crates and barrels full of dried peas, enough to supply a couple dozen SCV craft or a few companies of Armoroad guards and marines. Before heading back though we made a stop at the second island north of Armoroad to see if we can gather any more supplies. In a way we were halfway successful, as the master of the pastures that dominate the island has offered us a deal._

_In exchange for a certain type of lumber he will supply us with a load of his cheese in barter. Enough for a few voyages without having to go through the Harbormaster and his requisitions list._

_It is a good deal, and we have been told where we can find this Armoroad Cedar, but I find this situation slightly annoying. It almost feels like I am being told to play a Scavenger Hunt game in order to reach my objective, a game that is wasting time and money._

_The sun has already set and I don't expect us to reach Armoroad until morning. A full day has passed on this sea, which almost seems to consume time with little advancement. I can't help but wonder now, is this really the best use of my time?_

_Day 6 - Emperor 6__th__ ~ At Sea_

_Entry 1:_

_After touching at Armoroad to deliver the dried peas, we have started traveling west around the shore of Armoroad Island, the sun nearly at it's apex. Reif has kindly taught me how to use a sextant for determining a solar noon for keeping the correct time during travel, and Lunar and Polaris measurements for determining longitude and latitude._

_Reif has been friendly this entire voyage, as has the other officers. The officer's "gun room" dinning table has been very welcoming, though somewhat cold and impersonal. It seems the ship's officers are trying their best to feel us out before they have any kind of real conversation with us, neither giving information or asking for it so as not to give offense. Even Captain Burdock, the human shark, is staying silent for the entire meal to keep from causing a ruckus, his silence more unnerving than polite._

_It feels just like one of those stale and unnecessary diplomatic dinners I had to put up with for the sake of manners whenever diplomats and other royals visited._

"…Now?" asks Xander as he looks through the borrowed sextant at the sun.

"Nope," replies Reif, also looking through a sextant.

"Mmm. How far off am I?"

"Solar noon was about three minutes ago," the buccaneer says as he lowers the sextant and hands it off to Tabby.

"You could have said something," replies Xander, also handing off his sextant, and then checking his pocket watch.

The word, "Yeah," was Reif's only reply. He's the kind of guy that likes watching people puzzle and making them guess even when he had all the answers. In other words, he's the kind of teacher that forces people to learn by failing until they succeed. A vexing style for Xander since he's always tried to get things right the first time, as he grows annoyed with himself every time he fails. Aside from that, Reif is a likable guy.

After a few moments of silence, Reif's playful side emerges as he asks, "What would you say to a little sparring?"

As Reif draws his rapier Xander states that he doesn't like the idea, seeing as his cheap sword has half the length of Reif's and is in his cabin, thus not readily available. Reif corrects this problem by having one of the deckhands loan Xander his rapier before walking to a clear patch of the deck and warming up his sword arm. Apparently "no" is not an acceptable answer. Testing the borrowed blade, cheaply made but with an acceptable balance, Xander squares off with Reif.

Two paces apart, both men stand with their blades up looking at the other for study, trying to measure their form and skill. As the pause passes the half minute mark Xander is dimly aware of the many eyes watching the two men and the shuddering rock of the Virtus under his feet. Had the ship always been moving like this without him noticing until his safety depended on keeping his balance?

Finally deciding to set matters on their way, Reif takes a step in and the points of the blades touch initiating combat as if someone has fired a starting pistol. Almost like a cobra strike the two rapiers begin flashing in arcs, swings, thrusts and parries. It only takes a few ounces of pressure for a sword to cut flesh and both combatants use nothing but the slightest of movements possible as they clash, aiming for speed and precision as they do so. After half a dozen clashes, a smile appears on Reif's face, and he takes the first sidelong step of the match. It has become apparent that Xander has no confidence in his footing.

With a tightening of his jaw, Xander begins moving to mirror Reif until the next clash begins. In the midst of swinging, Reif sidesteps and lunges, forcing Xander to move and parry at the same time at the very top of the ship's roll along the surf. Suddenly finding the deck falling away from him, Xander slips and falls in an uncontrolled drop, cracking his knee against the wooden ground, accompanied by a peal of laughter from all the hands who had abandoned their duties to watch. With the advantage in the match shown, the sailors no longer have any qualms about throwing about cheers for their preferred type of combatant, the favorite or the underdog.

Gaining his feet again, Xander takes his position and the two start again. Once more Reif uses his sideways movement timed with the ship's rocking to throw Xander off his balance and take the advantage, hovering the point of his blade near some unprotected vital. Again and again, with a cheerful grin on his face. The match continues long enough for Xander to see individual people watching as he wipes sweat from his brow between bouts. Sarah's barely restrained indignant fury over Xander being made game of. Yuriko's impassioned cheering, as if it were a sporting event her energy could influence. Burdock's roaring laughter. Desiree's musing happiness over the idiocy of men. Lin's confusion over who to root for.

After such a prolonged and public beating Xander is greatly tempted to call it quits, but he feels he's just on the cusp of understanding some of the movements. That and Reif's asking if Xander wanted to give it up made the thought of doing so flee from his mind. Funny how that happens.

As the next bout begins Xander keeps his guard, but instead of waiting for Reif to make his move, Xander quickly emulates the movements Reif had been using on him. If their footwork is the same then it will be the skill of the arms that spell the difference in this match, Xander had decided. And it starts to work. Reif gives an amused eyebrow and switches up his movement with quick short steps, which Xander quickly follows after. For almost a minute the two men strike their swords against each others for this last bout, looking for a non-fatal opening in the other, the longest exchange since the sparring match had started. And then Xander made his lunge, overextending his reach to the point where he'll fall over, timed to let the rising deck catch his right foot as he brings the point of the sword up to hover in front of Reif's throat. A smile of satisfaction spreads across Xander's face.

_**Click**_

And then Xander sees the barrel of Reif's cocked pistol hovering at his eye's level and hears Reif ask, "Shall we call it a day?" Finally relenting, Xander returns the borrowed rapier to the sailor that had loaned it. Catching his breath, Xander accepts a water skin from Tabby as he asks Reif, "You really don't like to lose, do you?"

The slightly winded Reif pauses in his stride to answer Xander over his shoulder, "Do _you_?" And then continues on to add to the incomplete sea charts in the cabin.

Reif's the kind of teacher that forces people to learn by failing. Other than that, he's a likable guy.

_Entry 2:_

_We have successfully landed on the southwest side of the island of Armoroad and the mountain that rises above it. The ship's carpenter, a man by the name of Lesko, has led the way to a grove of Armoroad Cedars. We were quickly able to fell a couple of the trees and dragged them back to the ship. They are very common, but the money we will make from selling one of them will help fund further excursions._

_Day 7 - Emperor 7__th__ ~ At Sea_

_Entry 1:_

_Now that we have been at sea for a while the party has grown adept at killing time. Lin is still meditating, as it apparently helps her focus and improve her Qi. Sarah has taken to simple forms of working out, having recruited Lesko to help build a few devices to aid her. And Sonia has taken to tinkering with materials she procured when we last visited Armoroad, and is making something she calls an "Auto-Loader." I'm not sure why but Sonia seems to be acting a little more awkward around the rest of us than I remember._

_As for myself, I've taken up practicing my footwork on the deck every chance I get. I doubt Reif will ever challenge me to spar with him on dry land._

_In addition we have successfully dropped off the Cedar the farmer wanted in exchange for a few loads of his Sheep Cheese, much to Tabby's delight. She says that she can finally make something worth eating, though we will apparently be having toasted cheese sandwiches served on biscuits and a side of re-hydrated peas for dinner. I honestly can't tell how mariners survive on this stuff._

_But I will bow to Tabby's experience when she says that we have enough food stocks to make it to the west of Skandalia Island without risking the health of the crew. I truly hope so, because I get the feeling from the tales that we will all need to be at our best._

"And so the doctor _demanded_ my mother be set on shore for the delivery until the landing barge was prepared to move her, except the tide was on the ebb," says Reif in an animated fashion as he tells his story, "And the barge got stuck high on some uncharted coral. It was wedged so tight that they couldn't drag it off and had to wait for the next high tide. In the mean time my parents and the doc were in the barge and there I was delivered. So my ma asks my dad, 'What should we name him?' And without pausing to think, my dad says, 'Well, if the sea was so intent on making sure he was born on a reef, then by God that's what we'll name 'im. Reif!'"

Reif finishes his story at the dinner table in reply to Lin's hesitant question with the smile of a man telling another person's joke yet enjoying it all the same. It seems that the conversation at the dining table has finally started to get past the "pleasant nothings" stage and people are willing to talk about themselves to each other now. Except for Captain Burdock who keeps receiving a sharp kick under the table from Tabby when he starts on a story. Apparently it is a family rule that the man keep his personality clamped down at every meal.

Everyone is enjoying themselves and conversation is flowing at all parts of the table. Still mostly polite, but the participants are starting to get to know one another better. Just as Xander, Lin, and Reif were talking about their impressions about Missy of the Butterfly Bistro, and Tabby kicking Burdock hard just as the sharkman was opening his mouth with a particular glint in his eye, Xander hears Desiree's question to Yuriko. "So I still haven't heard, what nation are you all from, dear?"

Xander tenses slightly, annoyed. Desiree had been asking Xander various questions about him and his home since the first day they met. Xander had his guard up against the woman from his first impression and had found such unwarranted interest to be even more dangerous. As his mother had taught him, the easiest way to get through a conversation was to get your partner to talk about themselves, as everyone's favorite topic is their own person. And if anyone ever takes a greater interest in talking about you than talking about themselves, then they want something from you. In every conversation Xander had had with the woman, Desiree never tried to talk about herself.

With every question about Xander's origin, his family, his home, and so on, Xander had modestly downgraded everything about himself and spoke only in generalities. But Yuriko doesn't know anything about these defensive tactics he had been forced to take.

Cheerfully replying after swallowing the glass of sheep milk we had gotten as a bonus from the farmer, Yuriko cheerfully says, "Oh, we're from Lagaard."

Sarah nearly cradles her face in the palm of her hand at Yuriko's candor, the team having decided to try and keep their home nation to themselves for as long as possible. Sarah settles with rubbing one of her temples.

Picking up the thread to try and get as much information as possible, Desiree presses onward asking, "My, doesn't Lagaard have a Labyrinth of it's own? I've heard they are quite well to do and influential. Is Lord Xander from one of those great families?"

Xander jumps into the conversation that is quickly becoming noticed by the rest of the table by saying, "My parents were a simple Lord and Lady, nothing to be bragging about." Technically true, but a statement that purposely left out the important parts about a Duchy's title structure.

Xander's look at Yuriko told her that she really shouldn't brag about it, but there is no derailing a conversation at a mariner's table as the subject continues on despite Xander's polite attempts to change the subject.

"That's kind of odd," says Reif, "I've never heard of a Lagaardian noble taking up exploration. None of them have ever come through these waters before, and they're always hiring adventurers to go into their own Labyrinth for them. I think a Baron's kid from a nearby country was yakking about it once, saying it was to protect their bloodlines. Xander here may be the first Lagaardian Noble to hire himself out as an explorer."

Sonia volunteers, "Nah, that can't be right. Just the other day Yuriko was talkin' 'bout how Xander's dad ran a guild too, so he was definitely an adventurer."

Slightly puzzled, Reif supposes, "Then he was probably just dabbling in it for fun, one of them 'Noble's Games' you hear about, otherwise that Baron's kid would have mentioned it. He really seemed to have a chip on his shoulder about Lagaard."

"Oh, tell me about it," moans Desiree, "That brat wouldn't shut up about Noble families. He was very particular in his comments about how no Lagaardian with noble blood ever had the courage to risk himself in a Labyrinth like he did, and spent the rest of the meal giving examples. If there had been even _one_ royal Lagaardian explorer the kid would have mentioned it in some way to make it insulting."

"Well, maybe Xander's daddy wasn't born a noble," chimes in Tabby, trying to be helpful in the ongoing conversation. Most of the table deemed her suggestion out of place considering how impossible it is for commoners to become royalty.

But Tabby's comment turned out to be just a little too helpful as she provided the final piece of the puzzle for Sonia as she says aloud, "No way. There's no way. You _can't_ be Life Giver Rourk's son!"

At that comment Sarah does a full facepalm, Yuriko looks at Xander with an apologetic look, and everyone else at the table looks at Xander with surprise and awe. All except for Tabby who pipes up asking, "Who's Life Giver Rourk?"

Unable to be kept silent any longer, Burdock speaks his explanation so loud that the entire gun room is filled with his words.

"Life Giver be tha nickname a Rourk, tha leader an' Medic of Guild Keystone which conquered not one, but _two_ Labyrinths! First Etria, an' then Lagaard. The rumors say his entire guild were offered tha chance ta become nobles of Lagaard, but they all refused…except for their Leader. He accepted tha offered rank saying he could be a noble _and_ an explorer at tha same time, and later used the boost of status ta marry tha Duke of Lagaard's daughter, Lady Gradriel, who shared a mutual love. They say twas allowed 'cause Rourk were so popular with tha people and tha current Duke both for finding some sort a legendry artifact that cured tha Duke on 'is deathbed. They also say Rourk an' his guild slew dragons an' ancient gods powerful an' foul, that twisted the dead inta monster ta fill their armies and were powerful enough ta rampage tha world if left unchecked."

By this time Tabby's mouth was agape as if she were looking at a three headed monkey as Burdock finishes his summation of the legend surrounding Guild Keystone and asks Xander, looking him directly in the eyes with a quiet and even tone, "Be ye the son of _that_ Rourk, laddie?"

Feeling that there was no use in a denial, Xander clearly states, "Yes, I am the eldest son of Duke Rourk and Dutchess Gradriel of Lagaard."

The table drops into silence for a few moments and then murmers can be heard, none of them directed towards Xander as if he were suddenly an entity that should not be disturbed. The murmurs were about the legend and the figures that carved it. The indomitable Protector, Iron Wall Leene, a stern beauty with blond hair and an impenetrable shield. Guyver the Berserker, a cocky Landshnekt unmatched with sword or axe. Dead-Eye Minerva, the Survivalist that never misses even after having lost one of her eyes. Franz the Dark Genius, an Alchemist that has refined his recipes to go beyond elemental effects. More names are quoted, enumerating the entire roster of Guild Keystone one at a time. Even now these names impact the world of adventuring as pinnacles of their arts, earning the adoration and envy of adventurers the world over.

When the name of the Ronin, Ayame the Blood Drenched Flower, is mentioned Yuriko inserts the comment, "Yeah, she's my Auntie."

Breaking through the murmuring that has sprung up, Burdock asks Xander, "Why did ye keep something like that a secret, laddie? Ye must have had a reason."

After a few seconds silence in which all the eyes at the table were on him, Xander calmly says, "I never hid my lineage, I just chose not to talk about it if I could in order to avoid a situation like this. I am Duke Rourk's son, but I have not made a name for myself. If people offer to follow me based solely on my father's reputation I won't be able to trust them to have the guild's best interests in mind, instead of their own," Xander glances slightly at Desiree and continues, "So I wished to remain anonymous long enough to establish myself before my background became common knowledge, and I can only hope you don't spread this information around unnecessarily."

"I won't say nuthin', lad," says Burdock in a serious and deadly level manner, "But you bein' here means somethin', somethin' important. Yer existence validates the tale a yer father, and the monstrosities he fought. It means these dark gods may very well exist." Leaning back in his chair, Burdock continues his thought to the end. "It means we may very well have these same gods an' demons in our own Labyrinth, buried 'neath the earth and sunk below the waves. Are ye sure, lad, that ye should be trying to go wandering into their homes? Ye should know better then any of us what that means, being tha son of the Life Giver."

Replying in a dignified and composed manner, Xander simply says, "Ask me that question again after I've fought against a God or a Devil. Then I'll be able to give you a decent answer."

And Xander returns to his unhurried eating, the conversation at the dinner table slain once and for all. One by one those who had been enjoying their meal excuse themselves, either having finished their dinner or losing their appetites. In the midst of it all, Burdock looks covertly at Xander with a shark's smile on his face. Just like how Burdock could smell a storm on the wind, he could smell something coming off Xander, something he can't categorize as anything but the promise of danger. A danger that makes him tense with excitement.

It seems that dangerous days lie ahead. And Burdock can hardly wait.

_Day 8 - Emperor 8__th__ ~ At Sea_

_Entry 1:_

_Sailing through the night, we have made landfall on an island just to the southwest of Skandalia Island where we are taking the opportunity to observe the island in the distance, which is thankfully just in view considering the curvature of the earth. After some time observing, I think I can conclude that the direction of the waves in certain regions around Skandalia Island are, true to the stories, all moving in a single direction at all times._

_This is significant not only as it is something that is suppose to be impossible, as the sea is suppose to work on the principle of changing tides, but also because this means that if a path actually exists in those fast flowing tides that will take us to the mouth of the small harbor then the path will remain in place until we get our vessel over there to take advantage of it. This may be the only upside to having a sea that negates the laws of reality._

_For the time being Reif and I have set up a make shift observation site on a hill facing the north east and have begun using the sextants to try and measure out the riptides so as to plot a course._

_As for surviving such violent waves…well, we'll cross that bridge when we get to it._

"It's been over an hour already," remarks Sonia, gesturing towards the observation post. "How long are we suppose to be sittin' 'round here."

"As long as we need to," replies Lin from under the shady cover of her new straw hat. Lin's actions and light complexion in such a tropic environment heavily suggest a dislike for sunbathing, where Sonia's naturally tan skin seems indifferent to direct sunlight. Sonia though does not seem indifferent to Lin's smart comment, as her face shows her displeasure. In an attempt to half appease Sonia and half poke more fun at her, Lin finishes with saying, "You really shouldn't ask questions that have no right answer. Besides, complaints get old pretty quick."

Walking along the beach starting their third circuit around the tiny island, these two have been keeping the other company while everyone else was off taking care of their own matters. As such, the obviously dissatisfied Sonia only had Lin to direct her annoyance towards. What has not been obvious is what Sonia has been so upset over for the past few days, and Lin has had enough of that. "What's really eating at you, Sonia? You asked me to walk with you for a reason."

Sonia pauses in her stride for a moment, gathering her thoughts and says, "Should I really be here?"

"Well, you could always wait on the boat."

"I'm bein' serious here, Lin."

"So am I," exclaims the monk as she folds her hands into her long sleeves again, keeping the sun off them. "How am I supposed to know what you're so worried about if you won't talk plainly. I've had enough of listening to the old monks at the temple talk in generalities to make themselves look wise, I don't want to hear you doing the same."

Walking again, Sonia begins talking, moving her hands to emphasize her words. "I…feel like I'm outta place, here. I mean, I've been adventurin' in the Labyrinth for a while, but suddenly…it's all feeling a little too…big."

At Sonia's pause, Lin hazards a guess, "Is this about Xander's father? Life Giver Rourk?"

Weaving her head from side to side, as if to get her thoughts unstuck, Sonia says, "Kinda, sorta. I mean, it was because a Rourk's legends that I decided to become an explorer, you know? How some nobody saved a kingdom, slew a god, and became a noble…how can you not love a story like that? I thought it _was_ just a story. I can fight things like big lizards and man-eating plants, but a god? How're you suppose to fight a god?"

Fighting a shiver running up her spine despite the warm day, Lin simply replies by saying, "I suppose we'll find out if we have to."

Surprised, Sonia turns on Lin shouting, "What the hell! How can you say something like that so calmly? You're acting just like Sarah and Yuriko, just calmly going along with this whole thing like it's not crazy or something! How can you _do_ that? How are you…It's like you're…fitting in with them…"

Sonia says the last as a whisper, just loud enough to be heard as her head lowers. But Lin heard her and finally understands the problem. From out of the blue, Lin asks, "Have I ever told you why I go into the Labyrinth, Sonia?"

"You said…that you wanna be a better healer, right?"

"That's part of it, but I could improve my techniques studying in the temple, to a certain extent. But really, it's because of Grandmaster Jyong."

Just mentioning the name of the former Grandmaster Healer of the temple makes Lin pensive, bringing a flood of memories back into her mind. Jyong was so old that even his eyebrows and beard had fallen out, so he was practically hairless. An attribute the temple youths, and even Jyong himself made fun of often. That's what Lin remembers most about him, his sense of humor in looking at the world around him and pulling out the humor in it that no one else saw. Lin remembers the day she, as a little girl, had volunteered to retrieve the Grandmaster from his isolated meditation room for dinner to find that the unfocused, half opened eyes and slight smile belonged to a sitting corpse. Grandmaster Jyong's heart had given out at the age of a hundred and sixty eight while meditating, an unspoken absurdity on the tip of his tongue.

"He taught the classes on healing techniques when I was little, all the basics I know came from him. But what he really taught me is that we healers are losing our place in this world. Medicine has completely replaced technique and ability. That's why the healing classes are taught in the side temple now, most of the Initiates and Acolytes prefer the martial techniques. When people are sick or injured they go see a doctor, not a monk. The temple still gets a few walk ins, but for the most part, we don't have anyone to heal. That's why the temple doesn't have a Grandmaster Healer anymore, there's no one to take Jyong's place. They're mostly warriors.

"Jyong always said, 'there is no point in having an ability if you don't use it.' So I want to use my ability as best I can. And I think the place I can do that, while improving my techniques as much as I can, is in Guild Aequitas."

Somewhat stunned, Sonia can only ask a single word as a question. Why?

Lin stops for a while, trying to sort that particular point out, trying to give a reason to the feeling that she is gambling her life on. Finally she says, "Do you remember the look in Xander's eyes when he said that he'd decide if fighting a god was worth it after he'd done it?"

Sonia does remember. It was unlike the Xander she had seen up to now. Cold. Hard. Unyielding. Something about him had been unapproachable when he said that, like he had doubled in size without growing an inch.

Signaled by Sonia's nod, Lin continues, "The evening you were hospitalized, as soon as we were told you'd be okay, he had that same look, only more so. It looked like he was prepared to cut his way through hell without sacrificing anything. It's the first time I'd ever seen anything like that, even though I've grown up on this island of adventurers. I can only call it determination. A level of determination that dwarfs my own at wanting to become a Grandmaster Healer. And because I saw that, I can trust that we're going to be okay, no matter what we face. That's probably why I'm fitting in with the other members, as you call it. I'm determined to trust our leader."

"Deter..mined?" repeats Sonia. "That doesn't make any damn sense!"

"Yeah, it kinda doesn't," says Lin, shrugging her shoulders, "But that's how it is. I'm determined to follow my dream, which I trust Xander's determination to help make come true. What about you and your dream?"

Sonia had forgotten that this conversation was originally about herself and is momentarily caught off guard by this shift of focus. "My dream?"

"Yeah, you said you were going to find the Deep City, didn't you? Find the legendary city and become a legend yourself, just like Rourk, right? That's pretty much what you said just now."

"That was back when it was just a story that get's yer gusto up. Now it's all…just a little too real. I mean, Xander and Yuriko are blood relations to Guild Keystone, and Sarah was taught to use a shield by Iron Wall Leene. Hell, you were taught by a Grandmaster! Where do I fit in, some farmer's daughter that learned to use a big-ass crossbow? Isn't it normal to feel outclassed here?"

"But didn't you say that Rourk was just a nobody until he saved a kingdom and killed a god?" corrects Lin as she strives to get Sonia to see the real point of all this. "I'm sure Rourk got that far through his determination as well as his ability. You asked before, how do you fight a god. I think you just have to keep trying until you figure out how. Rourk was probably just determined not to lose."

"As simple as that?" asks Sonia with a screwed face.

"Maybe. Who am I to say, but it makes sense. What about you? How determined are you to reach your goal of finding the Deep City?"

"Wha? Fully determined! Why wouldn't I be! Oops…" Sonia abruptly hushes herself as the strolling pair comes into sight of Desiree, relaxing on a fold out reclining chair under a palm tree grove, thanking a blushing sailor for delivering a colorful drink to her. Sonia doesn't want a woman like that to overhear a subject like this, damn it.

Once they had gotten out of range, Sonia continues. "I've been on the island for three years now, working towards reaching the Deep City. Of course I'm determined to reach it!"

"You sure?" That quick reply seems to take all the wind out of Sonia's argument, the knowing way it was said. "You seem happier when you visit the Butterfly Bistro than when we enter the Labyrinth. It feels like having fun with other adventurers has become more important to you than discovering the unknown. Maybe those were always your priorities?"

"Of course not! I came to Armoroad _because_ I wanna find the Deep City an' become famous!" Sonia's outburst is instantaneous, and because of that, truthful. Those are her true feelings.

"Then when did that change?" asks Lin in a sympathetic manner. "You've been here for three years. That's a long time to be kicked around, going from one Guild to the next. And didn't you work in a bakery your first year? I'd say three years is more than long enough to lose your determination. If you're no longer up for this kind of adventure you could always quit the guild and find another one. Or you could give up on being an explorer and go back home."

"I can't do that," says Sonia, not specifying which of the options she can't do. After a long silence Sonia finally speaks again. "I dunno if I can trust other people to make my dream come true. I mean, most of the folks I worked with 're like _her._" Sonia jabs a thumb in the general direction of the reclining Desiree.

"Am I like her?" asks Lin. "Is Xander like her? Are the other members of Aequitas like her? You enjoy making bets with people, don't you? How about gambling on this guild succeeding where all the rest of your guilds have failed. It's one of those rare wagers where you won't lose anything."

Sonia gives Lin a sustained sidelong look and asks, "When the heck did ya get so mature? You're like, four years younger than me."

Lin giggles at this. "I grew up in a temple that forces discipline, philosophy, ethics, and a dozen more boring things on children every day. There's no way I could escape without becoming at least a little bit wise."

Finally laughing again, Sonia remarks on how unpleasant such an upbringing must have been.

"It's not as bad as it sounds," replies the red haired monk, "But there's a reason I sleep at Amon's Inn with everyone else instead of at the temple."

_Entry 2:_

_It has taken some time, but I believe I have charted the flow of currents to satisfaction. There is definitely a pattern, and that pattern leads directly by the western harbor of Skandalia Island. But this is as far as my surveying has taken us so far, as Reif tells me the speed at which the currents move are enough to batter most ships into splinters. Something to do with strain on keels and rudders. Burdock though is confident of making it through._

_For my part, I don't know enough to come to a conclusion. I know how to fight, give orders, and make maps. The sea is a completely unknown quantity for me. I have no choice but to trust in the judgment of others in this matter. But there is one thing that leaves me with a feeling of dread. As we were in the process of leaving the island to make our approach to the currents surrounding the west side of Skandalia a piece of flotsam drifted to the beach that we have scavenged for the high quality of its workmanship._

_It is the figurehead of a ship in the shape of a dolphin that appears to have been broken off from the rest of its craft. I can only think that it is all that remains of another crew that tried to make it through this gauntlet we are about to face._

The Virtus had been busy for the past few hours. Ports were lashed and sealed, and rigging had been set up in a spider's network in the single mast the craft possesses. All of the crew had been hard at work above and below decks, securing anything they could to prevent damages to man and property once they begin to ride the fast moving ocean currents. And now those currents are in sight.

The members of Guild Aequitas had been asked to remain below decks, though the only one that agreed to do so was Lin, who didn't trust her ability to stay right side up at sea even on a calm day. As such, Xander was on the tiny quarterdeck where the wheel that commanded the rudder was, and where Burdock spent all his time while above decks, being secured into place with a rope by Tabby.

The crew of the Virtus could only consider Guild Aequitas to be guests and landsmen, so the extra precautions were being put into place for all its members except for Yuriko, who even now is navigating the rigging better than seasoned upper yards men.

Before his being secured like a piece of cargo, Xander had been told the exact dangers of this maneuver by Reif. The danger here is not pulling into the currents, riding them, or even pulling out of them. As long as a jet stream runs in a straight line it is simple to stay afloat. The problem is that these currents have sharp ninety degree turns to their flow, that sudden shift in the water's movement being the danger, especially so close to a shore line.

The Virtus will be moving in one direction at break neck speed, and when it reaches the threshold of the current's change, all the ocean will be pushing it in a different direction. The pressure will strike the hull, and the force of the wind on the sails may cause the main mast to snap leaving the Virtus without the ability to steer, as everything for a seagoing craft depends on the wind. At the moment the Virtus loses it's steering, she may be carried sideways by the currents and capsize, be turned over by the unyielding waters. Or perhaps smashed upon the cliffs of Skandalia because of the forward momentum and leeway from their approach.

The danger to the lives of all hands in this undertaking is very extreme, and all of them know it. Though you would not know to look at Burdock, who even now is steering closer to the roaring currents with a predatory gleam in his eye.

"Watch well, lad," says Burdock, inching the wheel to bring the Virtus' head around, "It be all about timing."

As the bow enters the currents there is a sharp lurch to the Virtus' movements, and Burdock spins the wheel to correct for the sudden shift in the tides, gliding into the fast moving waters as the timbers begin to groan. Suddenly the pressure ends as the craft fully enters the flow of the water's currents and begins shooting along the sea, gaining speed until it seems to be sailing at a break neck pace, the world suddenly moving in fast motion.

The sharp cry from Desiree on the deck punches through the song of rushing water and iron taut ropes, calling for the main sail to be brought down, leaving only the top sails to be left up for steering way. The order is still being carried out as Burdock calls out, "Tabby! Toss the log!"

Giving a salute and a reply lost to the sounds of the water, Tabby disappears from view momentarily before returning with a large spool of rope attached to a small log. Dashing to the bow of the ship, Tabby begins leaning out against the railing while held by the back of her shirt by a burly deckhand. With a swing and a toss, the log is flung far clear of the bow's wave. The wood must have been given additional weight as instead of floating it sank into the water, allowing an accurate measure even with the tide racing about them. With the rope being dragged off the spool and a half minute glass in Tabby's hand, she finally pulls all back into the craft and calls out over the length of the boat, "Nine knots and rising, Cap'n Daddy!"

The Virtus is usually only capable of six or seven nautical miles an hour, and now it was making nine, and it had only just entered the currents.

In all the noisy activity that followed odd bursts of movement were the norm. No one dared to move, to let go of their hand holds for fear of being bucked off the deck into these savage seas, until an order was given and swiftly carried out so one could quickly return to the safety of a secure grip. Nearly five minutes later, Burdock, who was absolutely silent except for his occasional order, calls for the log again.

With a swing, a toss, and the rumble of rope being yanked from the spindle, the little girl calls out half a minute later, "Thirteen knots and rising, Cap'n Daddy!"

Unbelieving, Xander turns to look around him, and sure enough the entire sea is a blur of motion. Everything is moving so much faster than Xander had ever seen it going before. The water running off the bow and crashing against the sides is flying so high that it is coming aboard, soaking deckhands and one wave drenching Sarah from head to toe near the port railings, the closest to the quarterdeck and her lord as the crew would allow her to get. The entire ship seemed pressed to keep up this pace, and yet if what Tabby said was true their speed was still rising!

Another ten minutes pass, and Skandalia Island seems to be conquering the horizon, whereas it was a simple line in the distance when they began, and Burdock calls for the log again. The line looks like it is a living thing, leaping from the spool as the rope and its measuring knots are snatched into the ocean. The tug of the line is so hard that the supporting deckhand had to strain to keep Tabby from being pulled overboard. The final, exultant call from the girl is, "Seventeen knots and steady, Capn, Daddy!"

At the measure of speed a maniac grin and a dribble of saliva appear on the shark-man's face, making him look even less human than before. Even more minutes pass and the cliffs of Skandalia start to appear to be looming ominously, visibly growing in size. Then the feel of the tides begin to change. At the first niggling hint of the change Xander is too entranced by the proceedings to understand what the vibrations mean. Burdock though shouts the word, "Now!"

A call from Desiree, the first real order she has given on this entire cruise breaks through the noise like the shriek of a fishwife, piercing and incapable of being ignored. "Secure that ninja girl! Cut the halyards for the top sails! Loose the main sails!"

In moments the entire world changes as a flurry of beehive like activity is carried out. An upper yards man grabs Yuriko's wrist and pulls her over and down on to her knees in a nook of the upper yards where the mast meets a boom. The other upper yards men yank out boarding axes, extra heavy hatchet sized weapons and cut through as many ropes as they can each with one or two strikes. As they do so the spider web of rope in the upper yards scatter, coming undone and lashing about like whips. The crack of the rope ends losing their strain sounding like cannon fire, one striking the mast and leaving a score in the wood where Yuriko would have been standing had she not been pulled down beforehand. With the stray ropes cracking in the air, the lack of strain only making them sound like gunfire as they whip around now, the top men leap and slide into a new position as the hull gets struck heavily on the side by the new perpendicular current.

This new flow runs right along the side of the island on a parallel course, but the Virtus was heading straight towards the island until a second ago at three time's her normal cruising speed. The change is harsh and severe, as one of the top men loses his grip and falls over twenty feet to the deck below, striking hard and nearly being knocked over the side before another of the crew tackles him and then drags him down below, out of the way of the work going on aboard the vessel. The remaining top men can be seen hurriedly pulling at ropes, straining to lift the main sail into place and secure it.

As the top men throw off the securements and the deckhands pull at various ropes, Sonia jumping in to try and help haul faster, the ship begins to turn with the pressure of the water against it's side, the bow being turned towards the oncoming current. If this keeps up the Virtus will be sailing backwards before long, an impossible to salvage situation in this position, so close to the rocky shore. Suddenly there is a pounding sound on the stairs leading to the semi-quarterdeck as Lesko, the carpenter with pants wet up to his hips salutes and hurriedly says, "Eighteen inches of water in the well, sir! Eight of them in the last couple minutes! This tide is opening up the seams in the hull like they were sealed with cheese!"

There is audible panic in Lesko's voice as he reports, and a stream of water suddenly begins jetting out the side as the bilge pumps are put to work and the man disappears back under the deck to his designated position.

Over the roar of the water beating against the hull, the voice of Desiree can be heard calling that the sails are almost ready. In reaction, Burdock yells, "Let loose the tow line!"

Near the bow three men bodily throw a complex arrangement of sailcloth, wooden timbers that appear to be left over from the Armoroad Cedars that had been harvested, and scrap iron from the ship's armory overboard. As the construct hits the water it gets caught by the current and is carried along with it, the thick securing lines to the railing, scuppers, winches, and every other secure surface on the bow grow taught and start pulling the groaning vessel back towards the left, setting it once again on a crash course with the cliffs before finally beginning to nudge the Virtus' course further port, using the power of the currents to turn the ship instead of the wind or her rudder.

The Virtus continues to inch it's course to port. Slowly. Ever so slowly to port as all the timbers in the bow groan and complain under the strain, until the Virtus had turned her stern just enough to break the balance and the water began pushing the Virtus to put her head along the current's course instead of before it.

As the scale of passage finally tips in the Virtus' favor, Burdock shouts in a voice great enough for a vessel twice as large as the one he commands, "Cut loose the drag sail an' let 'er fly!"

The men at the bow strike the securing lines to let the constructed drag sail free of the ship as a loud ripple of cloth catches the wind, and a snap as the rigging is pulled tight. The main yard is up and the Virtus has steering way again!

The instant the main sail is secured, even before the report of it is made, Burdock pulls the wheel, calling for Xander to lend his weight as well to combat the strength of the currents against the rudder now that the drag sail is gone, as if he could feel the change in the ship. The Virtus pulls against the tide trying to turn it once more, and begins sailing slantways, but directly at the shore in it's current course. Slowly, agonizingly slow, the Virtus' head turns. What was once a head on slant towards the rocky wall becomes a careening curve, and finally evens out into a straight line along the cliff face. Once the course proves stable a deckhand starts digging into his pocket to pull out a hard biscuit, which he then throws with a powerful pitch. The biscuit flies high and strikes the cliff face down near the water, disappearing into the flying breakers a split second after to a congratulatory halloo from the rest of the sailors.

The Virtus has made its way through the currents, within biscuit toss of the rocks and disaster. As the craft sails into the calm waters of the tiny harbor, all hands begin celebrating accompanied by Burdock's mad laughter.

The Virtus is the first to reach Skandalia Island and her lighthouse after a hundred years.

_**End Chapter 5**_


	7. Chapter 6

_Warning: This chapter contains postulated explanations to the various skills employed in this game using a facet of the world of Etrian Odyssey that people who have not completed at least one of the games could rightly consider spoilers. Very big ones. But you already know about Yggdroids and the common knowledge that the in game world is a post world-disaster civilization, right? You may want to take your chances._

Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.

-Arthur C. Clarke

_**~Chapter 6**_

_Day 8 - Emperor 8__th_

_Entry 3:_

_The Virtus and her crew have pulled off what was thought to have been impossible and have successfully navigated the deadly currents off the west side of Skandalia Island. It took little time for the news to reach the Harbormaster upon reaching Armoroad close to midnight. He was so excited that he came to welcome us home personally, and tell us exactly what form of thanks we are to receive from Armoroad and the Senatus._

_It would seem I had misunderstood the term "Generously Rewarded" in terms of charting the course to Skandalia, for the reward is not in the form of ental, but a complete refitting for the Virtus and the addition of a foremast to it's stumpy bow. Guild Aequitas is not going to receive anything directly from the discovery._

_And here I am, after days at sea, wondering if it was worth the time and money spent to explore the oceans for the city. Even with trade goods and fishing income we have merely broken even on the price for vittles, and I am back where I started. Having to choose between buying Sonia a new crossbow or paying for food and shelter._

_Guess what I chose._

"Oh, _god_ I missed eating meat!" cries Sonia as she continues to tear chunks out of her chicken breast. Lin smiles brightly as she enjoys her fruit salad, and Sarah applies a generous helping of butter onto her cornbread muffin. Every member of Aequitas is thoroughly enjoying their first full, unhurried, and tasty meal on land in days.

As a celebration, Xander decided to treat everyone to a small feast at the Butterfly Bistro in thanks for their patience and hard work. Besides, Xander felt the need to try and raise his own spirits after the blow he had taken when the Harbormaster had thanked him. All that time on the sea, and here Xander was, still just treading water. Though Xander was not intending a pun with that analogy, it truly feels apt. But sitting in the soft blue filtered light of the leaf canopied bistro is slowly lifting the pain of disappointment.

"I have bringing your new bottle," says Missy happily as she delivers the table's second bottle of wine for the night, "Will you be having another?"

"No, thank you," says Xander in reply, "We won't be having any more drinks."

Sonia makes a sound half-way between surprise and desperation and then asks, "Didn't you say we could have fun tonight?"

"Having fun doesn't mean getting drunk," says Xander in a tone to settle the matter. The meal will already be costing nearly forty ental, there is no need to add the price of ale onto it.

"For some people it does," replies Sarah, as if just discussing a universal fact.

Well, Sarah would know, thinks Xander in recognition of her expertise before turning to Missy once more. "No more drinks for the night. Even if they are ordered."

"Ah, I am understanding you," says Missy in what she probably thinks is a conspiratorial voice, and then calls back in a bubbly manner as she returns to the bar, "Enjoooy!"

"Eeeeh, stingy," comes Sonia's half-hearted complaint as Xander begins pouring out servings of the new wine around the table, skipping Yuriko as she doesn't like the taste of alcohol. Grabbing a cornbread muffin for herself, Sonia suddenly changes the direction of the conversation once again. "So, Lin, you makin' any progress with Reif?"

Lin convulses, nearly choking to death on a cherry before getting out the words, "Where did that come from!"

"Oh come on," insists Sonia, "We all know you're crazy about 'im, and you've been chattin' him up at the, what was it? Mess table?"

"You two _do_ seem to be getting along better than when you first met," remarks Sarah, daring to having fun with another person again.

"But that's _with_ everyone," moans Lin as her face heats up, "When I try talking to him alone I just…freeze up, every time. I always get so nervous. I mean, he's so busy on the ship and he may not even want to talk to me."

Xander's eyelids droop from the weight of his disappointment in the excuses Lin is making up for herself. If Reif hadn't have been so bored on the ship Xander probably would never have ended up being toyed with. "Lin," he says, "I'm positive that Reif does not dislike you. Have a little confidence and speak with him. Ask something you want to know about him and let the conversation roll from there."

"Yeah," chimes Yuriko brightly, "Don't let this chance pass you by. Love is like an artery, when you see it you should strike."

Everyone at the table freezes and looks at Yuriko in surprise. Yuriko happily continues picking parts out of her fruit salad and tossing them up for Tanpopo to snatch out of the air as he roosts in the leafy canopy for the duration of the meal. After a few long seconds, Lin finally says offhandedly, "Well, that just happened."

Shortly afterward Xander sees an Armoroad marine come into the bistro through the entrance near Missy's bar and speak to the woman. He is quickly given directions in the form of Missy's index finger pointed directly at Guild Aequitas' table. Coming over, the armored young man with the cloth cowl covering his face in shadow gives Xander a practiced salute and says, "I hope I'm not interrupting your meal sir," though he obviously is, "But I have an important matter from the Senatus to speak with you about."

"Very well, what is it," asks Xander in a tone that was neither curious nor questioning, as he takes a sip of wine.

The young man speaks quickly, as if use to memorizing and delivering messages for his higher ups. He must have a drab work life. "After confirming with the Harbormaster and the crew of the Virtus, the Senatus has decided to use your vessel as the transport for a special detachment of Marine Engineers and volunteer explorers to try to infiltrate and retake Skandalia Lighthouse. Senator Flowdia is requesting that your guild lead the operation and the personnel involved. Will you accept this request?"

With his message delivered, the young man stands rock still. The other members of Aequitas, as well as the other patrons in the bistro, feel uncomfortable with the marine left in such an unusual situation. Xander doesn't care though, because as a Lord he knows it's a part of the marine's job to wait awkwardly until a reply is decided upon and then deliver it awkwardly to his superiors. With that knowledge, Xander is able to treat the young man as though he doesn't exist and concentrate on his own thoughts.

According to the message the Senatus has already decided to use the Virtus for this "operation" even if Xander declines the offer, but the time table for this request is a little too fast. We docked less than an hour ago. The Senatus has been moving too quickly the entire time Xander has been here, though. Giving cash prizes to novice guilds, chartering and handing out ships, and now this. All of the Senatus' moves have revolved around enticing other people to do their work for them. The Virtus is crewed by civilians and probably privately owned, and the Senatus is calling in volunteer explorers instead of sending in a platoon of marines. The only military personnel involved in this entire scheme are going to be a few engineers, non-combatants.

And the Senatus is asking Aequitas to take charge of the operation for two reasons. Because we are the guild the Virtus is assigned to, and so that if the operation fails we can be blamed for it. A typical politician's move. Even so…

"I accept. But we will not be available until tomorrow morning at the earliest."

Xander gives his response without even looking at the marine, cutting a piece out of his roasted sweet potato. Xander doesn't want a part of this, but the Virtus is now nominally a part of Guild Aequitas, though they could be reassigned at any time, and Xander won't allow a member of his guild to be hung out to dry.

"Yes, sir, thank you."

The marine should have snapped his salute and left at that point, but something odd happened. The marine stayed put. That was unusual enough for Xander to stop what he was doing and study the young man curiously. He seemed to be hesitating.

"Sir," says the marine, "May I ask you a question? …Is it true that you're the son of Life-"

"Did you not grasp the fact that I just _dismissed_ you?" snaps Xander viciously, "Or do you need me to call for your mother to come and pick you up?"

"Ah! Yes sir! I mean, no sir! I mean, I'm going sir!"

The young marine blurts out his words and rushes off to do the duty he should have done before. Turning back to the table, Xander sees what he was expecting to see, the surprised eyes of the rest of his guild. Calmly returning to his meal despite fuming with indignance inside, Xander explains, "The last thing I needed was for him to ask that question in a bar full of explorers," Xander lightly swings his fork around to indicate, "While I suppose it was too much to expect a crew of sailors to keep a secret like that to themselves, guards gossip more than a knitting circle. I have maybe a week until the entire island knows my heritage."

_Day 9 - Emperor 9__th__ ~ At Sea_

_Entry 1:_

_Despite what I said I had the team awake and at the docks before sunrise, much to Sarah's chagrin. Once there I was told that the other volunteering parties had reported to the ship in the night and that everything was ready to go, so we launched for Skandalia directly. It would be best if we could take care of this entire matter in a single day, as I have suddenly found myself under a time limit for establishing myself before the vultures start to circle._

_After resting a few more hours in the cabins, the rest of the guild and I were awoken for a late breakfast where I had the opportunity to speak with our guests on this voyage. The most unusual, for me at least, was a lady ninja by the name of Kirikaze. According to what Yuriko said it is most likely an assumed name as it means "Cutting Wind." Yuriko seems very excited to speak with the woman._

_There is also a princess with her two escorts. While quite pretty, she seems a little too excited about the idea of enforcing justice, and is claiming this excursion as being a part of her nation's succession rite. She seems eager enough, but something feels off. I think I'll have a more in depth chat with her later on._

_And last, and most certainly least, is a set of brothers. The shy and anti-social monk of a brother who barely said anything at the table, and the withdrawn and anti-social zodiac of a brother who barely said anything at the table. Among the two, the monk is the more acceptable guest as he does not have distain in his eyes when he looks at you._

_But from what the zodiac said I have learned something about the keeping of knowledge in this region of the world. In Lagaard our combat technology is mainly kept by researchers and alchemists to be passed down to apprentices, but here the technologic side is kept by the Astrologic College which trains the Zodiacs and issues the odd cloaks with the stars on the front to those who have graduated the training. Apparently the college was only founded a couple of decades ago, but has grown rapidly._

_Despite the ability of this man, I would much rather not fight beside him. His given reason for taking part in the operation is to perfect his abilities by studying the stars from a more advantageous point for observation. Fighting a giant beast for such a simple reason is either mad, fool hearty, over confident, or negligent. Or perhaps the man has fled so much from the world around him that he underestimates reality. Perhaps that is why the brother has been studying healing without having been born into the temple like other monks, his having to watch out for his brother._

_I also noticed that the Virtus has not been refitted, nor have any modifications been made yet. After inquiring I was told that it would take days for such a remodel to be completed and that the project would begin once we returned from the infiltration mission. Pretty sharp of the Senatus, for if we never make it back not only will they have not lost any precious men or equipment, but they will not have to give out an actual reward for reaching Skandalia in the first place._

_Addendum:_

_After speaking with Lin about the brother of the Zodiac, who is named Pollux, I have learned some more about the monks and their order. It seems that Pollux cannot be truly classified as a Monk as he is not from a bloodline associated with the temple. While it is possible for people to learn the techniques and develop abilities akin to those of a monk, they will always be incomplete._

_Apparently only those who are associated with the temples by blood can learn to harness their Qi to the point of making their healing techniques more potent by far. And thus, true Monks. This is very good information to have, especially going into the battle at Skandalia._

It is well into the morning hours as Xander strides out of the tiny cabin under the mock quarterdeck used for a navigation room and all purpose planning room. Looking around, Xander notes the locations of the various guests, or clients as Reif called them, relaxing about. Castor, the anti-social Zodiac is using the light of the sun to read a book written in a language Xander cannot decipher from the cover, his long black hair covering one eye as the other weaves back and forth over the printed words. The man's brother, Pollux, a tall, thin, and generally weak looking monk is nowhere to be found. Most likely keeping to himself in his cabin.

The Princess Victoria and her escorts are also present on the deck, the girl looking to be about sixteen years old with blond hair secured in a semi-free flowing bundle behind a glimmering tiara and wearing a white dress decorated with blue teardrop gemstones. Very much the type of garb a royal would wear, though Xander has always favored simplicity over pomp.

The Princess' two escorts are on the other side of the ship keeping their eyes on her. The first is a grizzled warrior with long black hair, perpetual stubble, and an unrelentingly stern look on his face. He is watching the Princess with the eyes of a watch dog that strikes down anything that threatens his master. The enormous mace on his back is nearly as tall as he is. The second escort is a knight, or a Hoplite in these parts. His bulky armor and shield are covered with knobby protrusions for catching an enemy's weapon upon to better deflect attacks, and serve to synthetically make his large body seem even larger. This would normally make a person's head appear smaller by comparison, even dwarfish, but the knight's poofy hair, large sideburns, and excessively square and clefted chin somehow manage to balance out the disproportion. He would probably look somewhat silly outside of his armor, though. He is looking at the Princess with the eyes of a man appreciating a well sculpted statue of a goddess, or at least the rounder and half garbed parts of such a statue.

While neither of the two men are right next to the Princess, it is still very obvious that the both of them are watching over her, which is probably why none of the deckhands are trying to chat the lady up. Xander though does not really mind the presence of those two men as he has himself had to put up with guards in clanking armor following him around on more occasions than can be remembered. As such, Xander simply walks up to the Princess and greets her, to the gape mouthed amazement of more than a couple of the sailors.

# # # # #

High above the decks of the Virtus, balanced on the tip of the main mast, stands the kunoichi Kirikaze. Gently leaning against the wind, the woman clad in dark blue lets her long dark hair pulled into a ponytail and the strikingly crimson scarf billow in the ocean's breeze. Unmoving, and statuesque, the mature woman stands as if she is caught in her own time flow, separate from that which commands others. And then she finally speaks.

"What is your business with me, ninja of the Kitsunebi Clan?"

"Eh-?"

The startled reply comes from a Yuriko that had been trying her best to stay out of the way, hanging onto the crossing support beam for the sails, called a yard. Pulling herself up to sit on the yardarm, the young ninja girl rubs the back of her head in embarrassment and says, "Sorry, I didn't want to disturb you. Ahaha."

Kirikaze narrows her eyes at the girl in study, abstaining from falling into an opportunity to have the small talk that would occur by replying with the words, "You were not disturbing me at all." Instead the kunoichi says, "If you are worried about whether or not I am here to target your Master, then rest assured, I have no business with him. I am on a mission to find a certain item for my own Master. Anything else is irrelevant."

"Oh, no," says Yuriko, trying to keep up with the sudden shift of conversation, "I don't think you're here for that!"

Kirikaze continues as if Yuriko had not said anything, obviously choosing to try and say what she wants to quickly. "However, if you are here for _my_ life, I will not hesitate to end you."

"Eh-? No! That's not it at all!" cries out the girl who has become afraid that a horrible misunderstanding may be taking place.

Still studying Yuriko with her narrowed eyes, Kirikaze continues. "Then what _is_ your mission here? That mask of yours is proof of your ties with the Kitsunebi. It is rare enough to even see one of your clan these days, but here I find one that, according to rumor, has been in the employ of a ruler from the West since before he left his kingdom? It would be naive to think you did not have an alternate purpose in being here. Were you sent to form a pact with that Lord you are journeying with? Or were you sent to take his life at some appointed time? Don't worry, as I said before, I am only concerned with my own mission, and will not interfere in yours."

"Like I said before, I'm not trying to kill anyone!" shouts Yuriko, who is getting tired of all these assumptions being forced on her, when something clicks in her mind. "Wait, what did you mean by 'rare to see us?'"

Seeing the unguarded look of slight panic on Yuriko's face, Kirikaze's single minded train of thought is suddenly derailed. "…Why did you come up here?"

"I wanted to talk to another ninja. I haven't seen one since I was sent away."

Yuriko's reply held no reserve, just her own feelings of loneliness. Somehow sensing this, Kirikaze ventures a guess, moving onto a new assumption with these new possibilities popping up before her. "Was that about ten years ago?"

Yuriko only nods her head, a hollow dread building inside her from the fact that a stranger knows when she had been sent to live with her aunt. Kirikaze begins talking in that manner that is only heard when one tells a fairytale.

"About ten years ago, there was a beautiful and kind princess named Mariko. Just as the name implies, she brought a smile to the face of everyone around her. She was loved by her people and the people of the surrounding nations. She was also loved by the young rulers of those nations. Each of those rulers professed their love for the princess, but they all did so at the same time. The young lords were all practically strangers to the princess, so she could not decide who she herself loved and wished for the time to choose her suitor. One of the young lords was hasty and proud, and disliked the idea because his nation and family was prosperous. As such, he pressed the princess to make a decision in his favor."

"The other lords did not like this pressure, for they acknowledged the man's fine points and had no wish to be outdone in the contest for Princess Mariko's hand in marriage. And so the young lords began to compete with one another to show their worth. Soon after, they began to bicker. Finally, one of the young lords drew his sword in anger and injured his competitor. While the attacker had done wrong, he had been savagely provoked by his victim, thus ensuring that neither side could contemplate an apology. And war was declared."

"In the beginning it was a war between those two lords, and was fought in only one region, but then one of the two declared as a challenge, 'Whichever of us wins this war shall be the one to marry Princess Mariko.' This declaration was a direct challenge to the pride and power of his competitors, and was the most disastrous thing that could have happened, for the rest of the suitors immediately joined in on the fighting. Every lord had his own rationalization for joining the conflict, whether they claimed to be protecting the Princess' right to choose or claiming their power was the only one that could protect her, they all fought."

"No man alive today has ever lived though such a violent time, as entire kingdoms were ravaged. The scope of the war left entire valleys filled with blood. The amount of violence done those days was only equaled by the violence performed at night. No less than five clans of ninja fought unceasingly in that war. They poisoned armies, slew generals in their sleep, collapsed mountainsides on their enemies, and lit entire forests on fire. And they also fought each other."

"Despite the pleas of the Princess Mariko, her fervent begging fell upon deaf ears as all the young lords had thrown themselves into the madness of war, touting her name as their cause. After months of trying, the Princess Mariko was finally able to get past her guard's watchful protection and end her own life. With the prize for the war's winner lost, peace reluctantly settled across the land. But not before the armies and clans of ninja that had taken part in the war had been completely shattered. The Kitsunebi Clan was one of them."

"Since that time there have been very few reports of encounters with ninja from the Kitsunebi Clan, and none of them are very reliable. I don't know if they have become cautious to a degree where they are phantoms even in the world of the ninja, or if ghost stories are all that remain of them. But if they _do_ still exist, it is certain that very few survived the war…and that they cannot be tracked. Did anyone else go with you when you were sent away, any friends or family?"

A mute Yuriko with two long wet lines running from her eyes down her cheeks numbly shakes her head, no.

"Then I can only say that I am truly sorry."

At that time the attention of both ninjas are pulled to the deck of the ship. Something is happening.

# # # # #

"So you're a Lord of Lagaard?" inquires Princess Victoria, confirming the rumors she had heard. "I understand that your kingdom has one of the oldest bloodlines still in existence. You must be quite proud of your lineage."

Xander smiles as he responds, a private joke in his words, "Well, I _am_ proud of my heritage, but I am trying not to let it define me."

The conversation rolls along pleasantly from there, and Victoria shares more information about herself. Even though the Princess has formed Guild Gauss, she has little interest in the labyrinth itself, seeing it as more of an opportunity to hunt down the beasts that plague humanity than something to explore. The Princess really does feel a passion for the task she has been given, proving herself strong enough to protect her people, instead of considering it a hassle of a ritual to decide a kingdom's heir. But this is only serving to make the problem Xander has perceived to be even more vexing.

"That armor of yours is quite intricate," says Xander indicating the crest laden breastplate that Victoria is wearing, "Did you bring it with you from your homeland?"

"Why, yes, I did," comes Victoria's pleasantly proud reply, "We chartered a vessel for the journey so that we could bring all of our luggage and equipment with us. I'm glad, for I have not yet seen armor to equal it in these lands."

The Princess' face does not show a hint of recognition that she has just insulted the blacksmiths of this region.

"So then you brought your sword with you as well? May I inspect it?"

Cordially indulging Xander's request, Victoria unbuckles the securements from her sword and sheath before passing the entire assembly to Xander, who takes it with a cordial nod of his head to simulate a bow. Slowly drawing the long sword from it's sheath, Xander sees what can only be called a work of art. It is a true Royal's Sword that has been perfectly balanced and forged from the best steel. A strong weapon, though exceptionally light, perfect for Victoria's slim frame. The winding lines on the pommel lead up to the swirling branches of the hand guard making the sword look almost organic.

Proudly, Victoria names the blade. "It is the Svyatogor."

"This is a true marvel of craftsmanship," says Xander with real sincerity, "But I have a question. Why are there no marks upon it?"

Victoria is naturally confused by such a question, as one could only expect such a magnificent blade to hold no flaws. But returning Svyatogor to Victoria, Xander passes his own cheap sword to the young Princess to view. Drawing it from the sheath, Victoria sees a blade of moderate quality steel of somewhat stunted length, a passable handle and balance, and carrying obvious signs of wear from the tip to the pommel.

"I have owned that sword for about a week," explains Xander, "And have seen to it's maintenance myself. Every one of those notches and scratches were caused by cutting into an enemy or parrying a blow. That is what the sword of a warrior is supposed to look like. It is not flawless, but it is well maintained. Victoria…have you ever used your Svyatogor in battle?"

"What? What are you talking about?" asks the Princess, starting to grow incensed. "I have been in many battles since I have arrived in Armoroad."

Sighing with disappointment, Xander clarifies his point. "Then the situation is worse than I feared. Your sword and your armor are both completely undamaged, and your knight's armor shows signs of battle from head to toe."

"Wh..what are you trying to say…?"

Xander doesn't sugar coat his words to the girl, and bluntly says, "I'm saying your knight, Sir Benjamin, has been doing nothing but taking every blow meant for you and your warrior, Albert, has been slaying your enemies. Even though you are this serious about proving yourself worthy of your throne, your escorts are coddling you. And you don't even know it. You are most certainly weighing down your team, with your knight unable to do anything but stand in front of you taking hits."

Victoria's ego is not just bruised, but nearly shattered by these words. She remembers the pride and happiness she had felt after battles won and the congratulations of her escorts. But looking back at those victories she can't remember swinging her sword. Desperate not to be shamed, Victoria slowly says, "I do help! I give out important orders to Benjamin and Albert. I'm an important moral support for them…Right? Isn't that what you said?"

That last line was said to Victoria's two escorts across the deck, and the two men reply at the same distance. The warrior Albert's line is stone faced and convincing. The knight is a much less accomplished liar. "See? They need me."

With a disgusted side long look at the men taking advantage of a girl's trust, Xander says, "Can you really take those words seriously when they come from men who were ordered by your parents to keep you safe even at the cost of their lives? Your orders bring about your victories? What will you do when your voice goes hoarse? Your presence is an important moral support? What will you do when your soldiers are fighting in the field and cannot see you to have their spirits bolstered? This world is not so kind that you can just assume everything will go right by depending on others, that is how puppet rulers get enthroned." This point strikes Victoria hard. "Sometimes you will be placed into a situation where only your sword arm can save someone's life, or by risking your own body can you do what is right. If you are afraid of inflicting injury or being injured in turn, you will not be able to accomplish _anything_ through your own power."

Looking cowed, Victoria is only able to utter the word "But" before Xander continues on.

"I am about to lead nearly a dozen people into battle against a century old monstrosity, and I am not willing to risk taking someone that can only call out, 'Do your best' from the sidelines while a valuable combatant baby sits her. If you lack even rudimentary fighting skills, then I lose more by taking you along than I would by leaving you aboard the ship. Unless you can prove to me that you are capable of actually putting up a fight, you'll be left behind, even if it means locking you in the hold."

Xander turns and takes a couple steps away from Victoria, the motion suddenly making real the fear of being left behind as she blurts, "How am I suppose to do that?"

Xander tosses the scabbard of his returned sword away and does a practiced and balanced about face by placing one foot back and slightly beyond his other foot and turning on the balls of his feet. "You attack me. If you can put a single wound on me then you earn the right to fight in that lighthouse. If you refuse or fail to touch me, you stay behind."

Albert had been straining his patience for a while, having been convinced by Sir Benjamin to let the princess have _some_ freedom outside of battle, but this invitation to put the princess in danger is too much for him. Taking a powerful stride forward, Albert reaches to wield his giant mace and put Xander in his place.

"Don't you dare raise a hand against Xander onii-sama," says the emotionally raw voice directly into the gladiator's ear. Albert had not heard the movement of the ninja girl Yuriko as she landed right behind him from her perch in the tops, with one hand on his shoulder and her other holding a knife poised perfectly to puncture his heart should he try and move, the point ticking his flesh from behind.

The grown man feels a shudder from the voice behind him even as he has the thought, "Oh-knee-what? Is that some sort of title?" Forcefully reminding himself of the situation, Albert orders Sir Benjamin to stop being lazy and do something. This snaps the knight out of his surprise from the suddenly appearing ninja girl and he moves to stop Xander from harassing the princess any further.

Benjamin is stopped by the click of a pistol leveled behind his head.

Slowly turning to look, Benjamin sees Reif, smiling with his loaded weapon ready to fire a fatal blow. The buccaneer says, "We get precious little entertainment aboard ship. Please don't interrupt."

As Sarah steps in to temporarily collect Benjamin's spear and sword from him, the knight looks around and sees all the other faces of the sailors are in agreement with Reif's action. Finally offended by this betrayal, the knight asks Reif, "We are your guests…no we are _clients_. Are you so unscrupulous as to turn on your employers?"

Reif gives a single amused laugh before he retorts. "Guild Aequitas is our employer. You're just someone they're giving a ride to. You really think you have the right to do anything we don't like?" With a quick flick of the wrist, Reif taps the tip of the gun's barrel against the back of Benjamin's head, making the knight jump an inch. "So let's just enjoy the show, shall we?"

With no other options, the knight and the swordsman are held hostage while they watch the Princess draw her sword and take a stance to face Xander. After having readied herself, Victoria is asked a simple question by her opponent.

"What are you doing?"

Blinking twice in confusion, Victoria replies that she's trying to fight, as she was told to. Xander narrows the focus saying, "I'm talking about your left hand. Are you trying to lose it?"

One of the automatic balancing systems of the human body is mirroring the movements of one limb in the other. It can be seen clearly when someone is clapping, both hands automatically moving in a mirrored motion. It also works to try and even the weight of an unbalanced load, like a heavy suitcase, or a sword. Victoria's left hand has automatically extended out to compensate for the weight of Svyatogor.

"Having your left hand that far forward is inviting me to chop it off. That's always assuming you don't cut it off with your own swings first. With a rapier, you anchor the arm on the hip or extend it as far away from your enemy as possible. With this long sword, you'll need to crook the arm and keep it close to your chest so your theoretic shield can cover your torso. Correct your stance and then begin."

Victoria does so, and comes at Xander almost hesitatingly with an overhead swing. Xander steps in and catches the blade on his own before it could build up adequate speed, saying, "I told you to correct your stance."

Upon the girl's protests that she had done so, Xander grabs Victoria by the upper arm. "You corrected your left arm, but your footing is too narrow. You want your feet at least shoulder width apart so that I_ can't_ do this."

With a sharp tug, Victoria completely loses her balance due to having placed her feet in her regular "genteel" width from one another. Another sharp tug sets the falling Victoria back onto her feet before she drops onto the deck, no worse for wear except for her pride and confidence.

Taking a step back again, Xander says, "Square your stance like this," he stomps his feet into their proper positions to signify them, "And then begin."

Even with a hesitating start, the exercises grew no better. After a few minutes of enforced instruction Victoria finally cries out, "What are we even doing! You've already made your decision, haven't you, Lord Xander? You're just having fun at my expense now."

"Am I?" answers Xander, his tone darkening for the first time in this rigorous exchange. "I'm trying to see what the worth of your determination is, Princess. And if this is it then I feel sorry for you."

Victoria gives a curt "What?" and Xander continues on, his tone getting more and more disrespectful. "Since you came aboard the Virtus you have been going on and on about Justice, so I thought I would try and see your determination. I gave you the simple goal of just touching me with your sword and you've given up already. That says to me that you have never really had a sense of Justice, or working to see your views of what is right and wrong fulfilled. You're apparently nothing more than a weak-willed girl that likes running around pretending at being a hero while causing nothing but mischief for her handlers. If this is the most effort you can give than I weep for the future of your nation suffering under the sense of your Hollow Justice."

"My sense of Justice isn't 'hollow!' It's a part of my trials, a part of my culture and the royal family!"

The girl retorts with more fire than she had shown to anyone before, but Xander just redirects the verbal flames right back to her. "Then I guess the term 'Incompetent Justice' would be more appropriate. If this sort of weakness is a part of your culture and your family, then your ruling class must be a bunch of weak-kneed, self-important nobles with a sense of entitlement to everything they see around them. Your parents especially!"

"**Don't you speak ill of my family!**"

The girl roars in fury as she dives at Xander, swinging with her full effort to silence the man who has abused her entire way of life. The two escorts on the sideline make another effort to move to their lady's aid, the warrior Albert stopped by a throwing dagger appearing at his throat from Yuriko's sleeve, and the knight halted by Sarah and Reif's cooperative prevention.

"Let me go to her," Sir Benjamin pleads, "She'll kill him at this rate!"

"Well, she's trying to, I'll give her that," says Reif, "But you landsmen really underestimate the difficulty of fighting on the sea."

"This is not the time to interfere, anyway," says Sarah in a calm explanation, "My Lord's training has finally proceeded to its crucial point."

"Training?" asks the buccaneer, who had just been enjoying to proceedings.

"Yes, this is the way Lord Xander was trained by his mother, Dutchess Gradriel, and Master Guyver, the Berserker."

This fact forces the two hostages to look at the events with something more than just seeing the surface. As the minutes pass, and the Princess Victoria continues her unceasing attacks, her sword skills are visibly improving.

When Victoria forgot about her footing, Xander put his full body weight into pushing the girl's sword blade back to throw her off balance, grab her arm, and drop her to the deck. Pointing his sword at the girl, Xander asks, "Did you already forget what I taught you about your feet? Don't tell me you lack courage _and_ brains."

Victoria slaps Xander's sword away with her own and scrambles to her feet. She did not lose the grasp of her footing again.

When Victoria makes a particularly wrathful lunge, Xander sweeps the blade to the side as he takes a circling step and grabs the girl's sword wrist. "And now you've completely overextended yourself, leaving enough of an opening…" With a tug, Victoria loses her balance and stumbles forward. Though her improved footing prevents her from falling on her face, Victoria bumbles as Xander continues, "For me to do this."

_**SWAT!**_

The sound of the flat of Xander's sword striking the princess in the rump is heard by the watching deckhands and those sailors in the tops, followed by more than the appropriate amount of laughter. Xander lightly swings the tip of his sword in time to his melodious comment, "Naughty girls get a spanking!"

With an enormous blush and half welled tears of embarrassment, Princess Victoria surges at Xander again, determined not to give her opponent the chance to do such a disgraceful thing to her again. Her attacks were no longer over-reaching and became far more balanced.

After a few very decisive parries, some of which actually turned the princess around in a full circle, Xander tires of the act enough to say, "Come now, girlie. If you keep coming at me with such a limp wrist you'll never get anywhere. Let me show you how it's done!"

Before now, Xander had always just answered Victoria's attacks with dodges, parries, and counter-strikes. Now Xander goes on the attack. As he purposefully strikes the princess' sword, Xander explains in an unkind tone, "Now see, _this_ is the power you get when you keep your wrist straight. You let the full force of your arm and your back travel through your wrist and into your sword strokes. See?"

With a shove on the interlocked blades, Victoria is pushed a step back until she is pinned against the railing where Xander's left hand secures the princess' sword hand in its grip.

"This is the kind of power you get when you perform a proper swing," says Xander as he lifts his cheap sword high, the lack of length allowing him to swing in such a confined space. With a heavy _**THWOK**_ the blade sinks into the wood of the railing to about a third of the blade's width, causing the princess to catch her breath. Retracting the sword with a _kri-krak_ from the wood, Xander chides his partner, "Now, how about swinging that thing like a sword instead of a paintbrush."

The princess' movements grow sharper and swifter. The sword seems less cumbersome in her hands and her openings to counter attack grow fewer. But it is impossible for her endurance to increase in such a short period of time. Having been fueled by constantly renewed rage, Princess Victoria pushes herself until she collapses to the deck with ragged breathing and tears welling up in her eyes. Tears of frustration in herself and her own weakness roll down her cheek. Choking on her own emotions, the princess' strangled voice coughs out, "Why…why can't I cut you…?"

Xander bends a knee to reach the girl that has been disarmed by her own defeat and brightly says, "What are you talking about. You cut me right here."

Extending his left arm, Xander shows the princess the cut in the lightly stained fabric and the open wound beneath it. Regaining her gentle airs now that the savageness is spent, Victoria gasps, "Oh, oh no, I'm so sorry!" She had never injured anyone before.

"No, no, don't be. I wasn't going to let you stop until you managed it anyway. I'm surprised you kept going even after landing the attack."

"I…when did I do that…?" asks Victoria, slightly entranced by the wound she had somehow given to such an overpowering opponent. It would seem that she was so occupied by the fight she had not noticed her fulfillment of the winning condition.

"It happened when you turned your aborted thrust into a sweep by sidestepping with my own dodge. A very insightful move, your Highness." Xander informs the girl of her growth with the pride filled smile of a teacher as he helps the girl to her feet. Once she is standing, Xander drops down again onto one knee and says in a somber manner, "I apologize with all my heart, Princess Victoria."

This swift move catches everyone on the boat off guard, except for Burdock at the wheel, who chuckles under his breath. The one that was most surprised though is Victoria. She had not even had the time to process her own feelings from Xander's smiling congratulations before this happened. A wave of emotion and gratification had met her with that smile as well as a rising of color to her face. Somehow what the lord in front of her said had felt more significant than when she had heard the same words from other people. Is it because she had struggled so hard and met his expectations that those words felt so wonderful? Is it because he has recognized her efforts that Victoria felt a wave of delightful satisfaction? And now here is that same man on his knees apologizing to her.

Flustered, the princess asks him what he is doing, having been so full of pride just a moment before. He replies in the same somber tone.

"I am apologizing for insulting your determination and your sense of Justice. And for speaking ill of your nation and it's people. While my goal was to draw you out and those insults were not sincere, they were still hurtful and rude. I ask for your forgiveness."

With the almost ape like "ooohs" of the watching sailors, Princess Victoria is completely unable to recover herself from feeling exposed and embarrassed in this place, realizing for the first time just how many people were staring at her. She hurriedly tells Xander, "I-it's fine, I forgive you. Please, raise your head, everyone is staring at us."

Xander does as she asks, perhaps a little too quickly, leaving Victoria wondering if his words were entirely sincere for a moment until she sees his friendly face again. Upon Xander's suggestion that they should probably freshen up a little after such rigorous exercise, Victoria gives a start and heads down below to tidy up, most of her style having been spoiled by her long exertion. As she heads for the stairs leading below to the cabins, a round of applause comes from the sailors who had enjoyed the show, from start to finish, embarrassing the girl once again. After all was said and done, Victoria is left with an annoyed feeling like she had been pulled perfectly into another person's pace the entire morning.

Xander though walks over to the princess' two escorts who are getting their weapons back and thanked by the hands for being good sports. Xander speaks to both men at once. The edge of anger in Xander's voice is evident to all around.

"I am happy the princess gave me her forgiveness in order to avoid an international incident, but I never would have had to go so far if the two of you had done your damn jobs. If you think you can keep that girl safe without teaching her how to defend herself then the two of you are complete _fools_. A Labyrinth isn't a place you can just assume everything will turn out for the best. If you don't teach Victoria how to survive on her own, she _will_ die. And it will be _your_ fault for coddling her, especially when she has so much promise as a warrior and a leader."

Xander turns and heads below to have the armorer take a look at the damage his sword has suffered from clashing against a weapon like Svyatogor for such a long period of time, and the gaze of the two escorts follow him. The knight's with begrudging respect for helping his princess to improve, and the warrior's with pure hatred.

The final word of the entire event ended up being had by Castor, the Zodiac, who grunts and mutters, "Savages," without lifting his gaze from the book he's been reading.

_Entry 2:_

_Following the same course as before, we have arrived in the harbor of Skandalia's west face. The entire team is putting the finishing touches on their gear and getting ready for action._

_I have given orders for the Virtus to wait six hours. If we have not made contact by the end of that time we are to be assumed dead and to be left behind. I will be leaving this journal behind as well, since if I perish in this tower it will be of no good to anyone left on my corpse._

_And from what I have heard of this monster, this Meregho Saeno, that is a very real possibility._

The climb up the light house had been agonizing, not because of the stairs, but because of the stink. The musty, moldy, bowels of the lighthouse had been pelted by seaborne winds and moisture for the past hundred years without maintenance. The fact that the structure is still standing is a testament to the original architect's ability and the expertise of those who had built it, a testament to the old glory of Armoroad. It had taken twenty minutes to reach the final flight of stairs, climbing moderately to avoid being tired out, and all the explorers were there.

On the other hand, Armoroad's marine engineers were nowhere to be seen.

Early on, the two engineers split off from the rest. They had no elaborate tools or weapons, but they had materials that Sarah had identified as signaling lanterns similar to the kind the Labyrinth Guard use back in Lagaard. It seems the marine engineers had only been dispatched to verify through signals in the lighthouse's windows that the path to the west harbor was legitimate, and not to support the explorers in the fight with the winged monster. Even if no one makes it back alive, Armoroad will have confirmed that the path is genuine for future operations. It's almost painful for Xander to admit to himself, but he had not thought of that depressing possibility.

But there is nothing for that now. Xander has his team and he has the battle plan, which he goes over again as everyone ascends the final flight of stairs leading to the roof.

"Sonia, Castor, you two are the back rank. Stay as close to the stairwell as you can in case you need to make a break for it. Use it as cover if you need to, but don't stop attacking. We're counting on you to do the bulk of the damage in this fight. Pollux, you stay with them and keep them healthy, that's your only job. Yuriko, Kirikaze, since this thing is a bird I want you to concentrate on clipping the wing feather as well as you can so it can't fly away. If it takes to the sky we may never win. If you two need to have some wounds treated, go to Pollux."

The explorers assigned to the back rank give their various acknowledgements, though this is the third time they've gone over the plan. No one is complaining though since this fight warrants the extra precaution.

"Guild Gauss, Sarah, Lin, and myself are the front ranks. Our task is to keep the thing busy. Attack it if you can, but your primary job is to stay alive, and your secondary job is to keep its attention so it doesn't go after the people in the back rank. Gauss will fan out to the left, the rest of us right. And Benjamin, you can fight the way you are use to, just so long as you don't break ranks and keep the enemy busy."

Sir Benjamin nods, understanding what Xander really means. He's saying it is alright for Benjamin to devote most of his energy to keeping Victoria safe, like he's done before now.

"Lin, your only job is to keep the rest of us on our feet. We can take a hit better than you, so don't do anything heroic."

Lin also only nods, enveloped by the tension in the air enough that she doesn't make any jokes. Even though she is this serious, the red lump on her forehead makes the act somewhat ridiculous as it was obtained during the Virtus' approach to the harbor through the swift currents that day. Lin had been rolled around inside the ship until she had cracked her forehead against some of Tabby's cooking pots. The girl doesn't seem to be cut out for seagoing life.

As the strike team of explorers climbs the final steps to the roof, Xander does his duty as a leader by saying the impossible with enough conviction to convince everyone that it is fact. "We're facing a hard fight, but as long as we all work together we're all going to come out of this alive, and triumphant."

Cresting the stairs, the explorers plant their feet on the stone faced roof of the lighthouse, or at least on the film that covers it. For a hundred years, the flat and expansive flagstone looking roof has been exposed not only to the elements, but used as the roost for a giant avian. The moss and coagulated slime of salt spray and rainwater that never fully dried is intermingled with the remains of meals and the enormous liquid droppings from the beast that lives in this place. The stink is even more horrible than the inside of the lighthouse, enough that Victoria is forced to hold a handkerchief to her face, and every member feels the slickness under their feet as they carefully walk into the open. All except for Castor who's silver winged Zodiac rig lets him hover over the slime just as it allowed him to hover up the stairs. When Sonia called him out on cheating the stairs using his equipment, he simply replied that it was vital for having a zeroed horizon for spell targeting, and then said it's not his fault other people lacked the intellect to utilize it, and such people deserve their suffering.

It took a lot of apologizing from Pollux on his brother's behalf to prevent a fight right then.

Ordering the back rank to stay put, Xander begins walking a little forward with the front rank in formation. Lin is at the center, with Sir Benjamin to her left, followed by Victoria and Albert. Xander is immediately to Lin's right followed by Sarah on the end. Since Benjamin is so use to defending others, Xander wanted Lin stationed near him, as she is the most vital part of the front rank for this fight. With the formation set, Xander studies the fighting ground.

The top of the lighthouse is approximately forty feet in diameter, with the stairway at one end. There is no lighting apparatus here, as the floor below was constructed to beam out the light and this top floor seems like some kind of military look out post, or meant to hold siege weaponry during times of conflict. Thus it is sturdy and spacious, except for a large pile of debris that occupies a generous area of its far side. The perimeter of the rooftop seems like it once held a stone railing for safety, but at this point all that remains of those railing are the occasional cut off stumps of its supports. It would appear that all the times the great beast that dwells here has taken off and landed has pulverized the safety railings.

Xander searches the area, and does not see the beast that dwells here, and so begins searching the sky. This Meregho Saeno does not appear to be in the air either. Curious, as the panorama from this tower to so great. And so Xander looks around again and finally understands. Before inspecting the region more thoughtfully, Xander had seen the enormous pile at the far end of the rooftop as simple debris, but it was so large that Xander's mind simply could not process it correctly. The pile is not debris, but a tangle of trees and large branches interlinked with one another in a pile a dozen feet high. It's a bird's nest. And just barely visible over the rim of the nest is a mound of crimson red. The mound begins shifting as if it had been disturbed by an alien presence, and a more tangible form starts making itself known.

Various members of the enlarged party make various low noises, the more prominent being Victoria's ladylike surprised intake of breath and Castor's overly cool exclamation of, "Oh, my."

First one wing extends, and then another. And a third followed by a fourth. With a light flap that displaced enough air to cause a wind, the main body of the creature rises into view. Except for leathery patches of exposed flesh, visible scarlet and gold feathers cover its whole being as the torso rises, turns, and takes a large step over the rim of the nest. The raptor legs and sharp nails are ridiculously huge, belonging to a bird over six times the height of a full grown human. But the basic shape of a bird does not apply to this being, for the torso angles straight up instead of inclining forward to produce an aerodynamic flight. At the top of this straight torso is a head of some kind, blocking out the past noon day sun covering it in darkness and preventing anyone from seeing any details, except for the swaying crest that looks like a living crown of feathers and it's five eyes, glowing red and green. An unseen mouth opens with an audible exhalation, and the moisture can be seen in a thick mist.

For a moment the only thing in Xander's mind are the words Yuriko said not that long ago on the second floor of the Labyrinth. That's a big bird.

Recollecting himself, Xander starts shouting orders.

"Front rank, forward, get it's attention, back rank, aim just above the beak-like protrusion on the torso! If it's shaped like a man, maybe it's vitals are similar!"

Sonia quickly ducks halfway into the covered stairwell and sets the giant drawstring ready to fire. After securing the drawstring, she starts digging into one of the many leather satchels secured around her heavy leather skirt, worn only in combat over her regular baggy pants and combat boots. Selecting carefully, Sonia pulls out a heavier and denser bolt for firing, looking to do more damage per shot than with her regular ammo. She acted as quickly as she could, but the nature of Sonia's heavy crossbow slows her actions enough that nearly everyone acts before her. Sir Benjamin and Sarah had already begun antagonizing the beast with shouts, beating on their shields, and aggressive stances, and Albert the warrior has already drawn his giant mace and struck the beast in the thigh. After giving his own orders, Xander moves in with his shield up to try harrying the monster as well while Victoria stays near Benjamin calling out the creature's movements to the others in the team so they can avoid it's attacks more readily. Yuriko is already a lavender streak in the air, slicing pinions wherever she can, causing tactical damage instead of actual physical damage.

But Sonia has a good view for the more unusual actions taken at the beginning of this fight as she readies her crossbow.

Kirikaze folds a few fingers on one of her hands and begins concentrating before taking off in a sprinting dash. Holding the hand with the oddly folded fingers in front of her face, as if the shape itself had some meaning to focus her intention, Kirikaze growls with the force of her concentration as her image wavers. To Sonia's surprise, not just the image, but the outline, the form, and the entire figure of Kirikaze wavers like an illusion and then abruptly splits itself in two, quickly dashing away from one another like mirror images with an odd, dark aura around them both, showing that even the surrounding light views this occurrence as unnatural.

Just as the formula and production of Medica is one of the remaining bits of knowledge from the old world, before the planet wide disaster, there are other bits of knowledge floating around in this world. Most of that knowledge cannot be explained and is passed along as the most closely held secrets of differing cultures or discovered by accident. Or as bits of secret knowledge that even their owners don't understand. That is the way for the Ninja Clans of the East.

The true form of their Ninpou, secret and reality defying techniques, hold their roots in the lost sciences of bio-chemistry and astrophysics. Matter is made of atoms which are held together by their bonds creating dense and solid objects. Energy is formed when matter releases its stored energy through changes in its form, or through the expulsion of extra portions of the atoms that form it. However, matter cannot _be_ energy, and energy cannot _be_ matter. That is a simple law of reality. Except it does not apply to Dark Matter. This form of energy that is so condensed by gravity wells that it becomes solid breaks the rules of physics, and once one rule is broken others can follow, such as the law stating that one object cannot be in two places at once.

The formulae allowing the conversion of biologic material into dark matter through the nucleic division of atoms inside biologic material was one of the bits of old knowledge that was preserved, nearly lost, and then adapted until its origin is completely unknown. And now the only evidence of this reality disrupting power can be found in the secret scrolls of the Ninja Clans and the effect it has on their bodies. It allows them to split their existence into multiple bodies that can move independently of one another, by literally splitting the flesh of one body into two.

Sonia almost drops her heavy slug as she sees this and Pollux is left gaping. Castor was not paying attention to anything but his own actions.

"Range finding complete. Begin uplink."

The uninterested words roll from the Zodiac's mouth while he holds his left hand out, a green light extending from the hand on both sides forming what looks like a luminescent javelin punching through the palm. But that spectacle is only used for aiming his attack since a Zodiac controls the power of the stars. And the object that governs his link with these stars, the large and complexly built contraption with many glass covered protrusions on his right shoulder begins to glow.

# # # # #

Time has nearly no meaning in the inky darkness of space. Once free of the atmosphere there is no wind, no sound, no moisture, no erosion. The vacuum of space has only perpetual silence like a sealed grave. Nothing changes, nothing stirs, and everything left in orbit of the green and blue planet below continues to hang there in perpetuity, following their delicately interlaced geosynchronous orbits. Having lost the technologies that made use of them, that put them there in the first place, these constructs have lost all meaning as anything but man made astral bodies. Synthetic stars.

But one of these stars receives a signal, and begins to move slowly and deliberately. The object in question is a large metal block with several large solar collectors on it like shining black wings for a renewable source of energy, so no one needs to be sent to switch out its power supply. Connected to the bottom of this blocky construct is an array of panels, long panels with straight lines tapering to oblong ends in five different directions with white painted surfaces, all facing the planet below. When seen from afar, these panels would appear to be in the shape of a pentagram with blunted points, or in the shape of a cookie cutter's impression of a star.

Slowly, nodules on the surface of the whitewashed panels begin to move.

On the side of this blocky construct, there is a screen made of glass, right next to a rectangular emblem of white and red with fifty seven stars on a blue field, and a graffiti scrawl saying BURN, BABY, BURN under an immolated skull wearing sunglasses. Words appear inside the screen made of glass.

FIRESTAR Serial code #00083 - uplink initiated…

Uplink complete.

Confirming authorization codes…

Codes validated.

Command received.

Target coordinates processing…

Coordinates confirmed.

Adjustments for planetary rotation complete.

Initiating 9% power transfer.

Two of the nodules on the underside of the Fire Star military satellite glow faintly and each expel a form of altered solar energy that quickly compresses and ignites hydrogen molecules where they intersect. A form of weaponized binary energy manipulation.

# # # # #

Moments after Castor mumbles that his range finding was a success, an explosion of magical fire erupts next to the torso of the giant bird, leaving a few of the feathers smoldering even as Sonia's bolt strikes deep into the beast's chest.

Though caught off guard for a few moments, no creatures having ever attacked it in it's roost before, the beast named Meregho Saeno soon strikes back, it's eyes lighting up and a small burst of five blasts of light erupt converging on Sonia's position, the stone support she is using for cover nearly being pulverized by the unexplainable reprisal. A few of the members are startled by the attack, particularly Victoria who is still unuse to the dirtier aspects of fighting and Sonia who's arm feels numb from the shockwave of the buffeting blasts. But Xander simply shouts, "Don't worry about attacks we can't explain, just avoid them and keep fighting!"

Albert doesn't need any reminder to do so as he fiercely swings his giant mace down onto the clawed toe of the misshapen bird, shouting, "Eyes down here, you bastard!" The impact was enough to put a crack through the body of the creature's thick clawed nail and inflict enough pain to make it screech in fury, turning it's complete attention to those directly in front of it.

The next few minutes blur as if time has no meaning. The back rank and the ninjas continuing their attack pattern mostly unhindered. The front rank is horrifically busy. With Sir Benjamin constantly taking damage meant for two people Lin is forced to spend most of her time on one man. The four sweeping wings dance about before flailing at their targets throwing certainty of any attack patterns out the window, and the occasional flash of lights from the creatures eyes do terrible damage, as Albert experiences first hand.

With the beams exploding around him, Albert forces himself to stand back up as he feels his bones creak. Shouting that she'll be over right away, Lin hurriedly finishes her treatment of Sir Benjamin even as a flurry of feathers fall through the air like snowflakes. These are not feathers that were cut by the team, but tossed out of the monster's body seemingly of their own volition. As Xander's mind momentarily reflects on this, he can hear a slight crackle and feels the hair standing up on his neck, right before the field is filled with electricity blasting from one feather to another like light against a set of mirrors. Not a member of the front rank was spared the blast, and Sir Benjamin had it doubly hard, all the work Lin had put into fixing him up had been undone in a moment. And even worse is Albert, who convulses sharply and then drops backwards into the muck, smoldering with his eyes rolling back into his head.

Even without Xander's bellowed order, Lin would have immediately gone to check on Albert, Benjamin going along to cover a dashing Victoria who is worried about her team mate. As Lin bends down to check the man's vitals, she only needs a moment to make her conclusion. Albert's heart has stopped beating from electrical trauma, causing an immediate blackout that will, inevitably, lead to brain death in a few minutes. Rattling off her diagnosis, Lin looks up to a pale Victoria's face as the girl asks, breathlessly, "Is there anything we can do?"

"Yeah, you take care of that one while I take care of this one," snaps Lin back indicating Benjamin and Albert in turn. With a jittery start, Victoria plunges into a little equipment purse and pulls out a jar of Medica, draws up behind the pale faced knight in a full guard position and upturns the jar in range of his clenched teeth, letting the man drink the medicine without opening up his position to attack.

With the peanut gallery occupied and not touching the patient, Lin is in a position to administer treatment. A treatment type she's practiced but never really used before.

"Here goes," mutters the monk as she slaps her hands together, rubs them vigorously to get friction going, and then slowly draws them away, with a momentary crackle of blue Qi energy flashing between them. Or more specifically, bio-nucleic energy that those bearing the genetic data of the monk's order can store and then expel into wounded cells to promote rapid repair and division of cells. This effectively heals wounds at a speed visible to the naked human eye. And to think this was a simple byproduct of the ancient, forgotten, and interrupted Human Genome Re-Mapping Project

Alright, circulation of Qi looks good, thinks Lin as she brings her extended palms to bear a little past the heart on the chest and a little below on the side, and then lets her Qi crackle from one hand to the next hoping to restart the heart using a type of energy different from the kind used to stop it in the first place. With an audible thump of transferring power, Albert's back arches and he takes a strangled gasp of air as his heart starts and he regains consciousness again. But he's not out of danger.

"I need a minute with Albert, can you hold this position?" asks Lin, who is following the orders of her leader, prioritizing survival over all else.

Turns out Sir Benjamin can, very easily in fact, as the great Meregho Saeno turns it's attention from the four people clustered behind one shield, and places it's satisfied attention on the two nearby warriors that are on the other side of it. As a large blurry shadow appears directly overhead, Xander understands that he and Sarah are now cut off from the rest of the front line and Lin, the only healer they have available so far forward. And the bird has decided to finish the stragglers first.

Even with his lifted shield Xander was able to stand under the impact of the downward chopping wing, the electrified feathers having set his entire body afire with pain, and Xander is slammed into the stonework under the weight of the attack. With that portion of his mind still free enough to be distracted, Xander can almost swear he sees a look of satisfaction in the glowing eyes of the deformed bird as it poises the other wings for a follow up. And then Sarah is standing in front of Xander, blocking his vision, bracing for the inevitable attack.

The attack came. A sweeping horizontal blow with another wing that caught an electrically weakened Sarah right in the abdomen, sending her flying. While Sarah does not soar a great distance, the momentum behind her flight is more than enough to send her skidding along the muck, unable to find any surface to get a grip on, even letting go of the spear in her hand as she rakes her fingers against the grime.

And then Sarah can feel nothing below her as her slide takes her past the far too close edge of the roof, having not been able to stop her progress as gravity takes over, and the only thing she can see is the appalled face of her Lord Xander looking her right in the eye before the rising stonework blocks her view.

And then the stonework hurls forth to meet her face as Sarah's right arm is caught upon something and her body swings into the lighthouse's wall. Shaking her head to refocus her thoughts, Sarah looks up to see what has her, and sees the relieved face of her Lord Xander, one hand gripping the wrist of the arm Sarah had been extending in hopes of finding a miraculous handhold.

"Sir?"

"Well that was close," breaths Xander, trying to let some of the anxiety bleed out of his body. Seeing Sarah unable to stop herself, Xander had stabbed his short sword into a joint between two stones, hoping the mortar was loose enough for the blade to stick and used the leverage like a foot racer's starting block to propel himself forward just in time to grab Sarah before she was out of reach. However… "But it seems we're not safe just yet…"

Looking around himself, the spread eagled royal lays with the entire front side of his body pressed against the film covered stone, his right hand holding over a hundred pounds in terms of human weight, his left hand holding tightly to the remains of a support for the so long ago destroyed railing, and his right foot pressed against a similar purchase. His left leg has nothing to brace itself against, the roof being so slippy, preventing Xander from finding the three points of support he unconsciously knows he needs in order to properly lift anything from this position.

That is, if he's in good enough form to lift anything. Xander was never much of a body builder, though his grip strength on a sword is nothing to be laughed at, and desperation is giving him the power needed to hold Sarah's weight. But for how long? Xander is still injured from the attacks he took from the beastly bird, and his entire body is being strained to prevent the frictionless slime from carrying him over the side along with Sarah.

"The light chamber should be right below," says Xander, as he continues flexing his left leg, vainly hoping to find support, or at least knock enough slime away to find it. "Can you reach a window and crawl back into the building?"

Looking around quickly, Sarah gives the disappointing news, "No, my Lord, the windows are out of my reach. And besides…the sills seem to be angled sharply down. I don't think I could climb them, they're covered in wet moss."

It's true that it would be impossible, as all the windows in the lighthouse were made to let rain and surf water drain quickly from the windows, and the thickness of the walls make the angles impossible to hold onto, let alone climb.

"And I doubt you can climb the wall," concludes Xander, looking at the moss protruding from all the seams between the bricks that make up the wall. The fragile plants push out from the possible hand holds, filling them completely and being too weak to support a human's weight. "Don't try, or you'll just *gnrt* swing around."

Xander turns his head, getting a coat of goo stuck under his chin for the trouble and some of his gunk covered hair sticking to his face. Looking at the battlefield again, Xander calls in answer to Lin's shouts from across the battle. "We're okay! I have her, but I can't pull her up!"

At the look of Lin getting ready to charge across the battlefield, which would necessitate passing right in front of a whipped up Meregho Saeno, Xander continues his shouted orders. "Don't break formation! If we lose the front line we lose everything! Keep them fighting, Lin!"

Then Xander hears the high pitched cry of, "I'm coming!" from above. Craning his neck to its maximum Xander can just make out Yuriko, who abruptly changed her attack pattern and can be seen soaring in the air, a gentle parabola leading to Xander and Sarah's rescue. And a set of five glowing eyes focused on the flying ninja girl that light up and blast her square in the back, flinging her backward bent body into the stonework, and to Xander's horror, done so with enough force to cause Yuriko to _bounce._

"Pollox!" shouts Xander, forcing the man to dash from cover to grab the limp girl and drag her back into cover with him, the kind of action one would expect of a combat medic under fire. After a few moments, the young man calls back to Xander that she's only unconscious, but he doesn't know when she'll wake up.

Swallowing hard, Xander looks at the battlefield and makes a decision. Calling out, Xander gives his next set of orders. "The fastest way to save us is to finish the battle! Back row, stop spreading out your attacks, concentrate only on the deep wound in the beast's left chest. _It's _left!" specifies Xander to avoid confusion, "You've torn through the leathery skin already, but don't stop until you've punched a hole all the way through!"

Castor's mumbled reply is a dismissive, "Obviously."

"Front rank! Hold your positions and keep the thing interested in YOU. Albert, it hates it when you hit it's toes! Just focus on the fight to end it as soon as possible!"

Turning his head back to face Sarah once more, and succeeding in getting more soiled hair stuck across his face, Xander says in what he hopes is a reassuring manner, "It seems we're going to be here for a little bit, so let's try and pass the time comfortably."

Despite saying that, Xander still continues to grunt as his left leg searches and his right shoulder feels like it will come out of the socket any moment now. A few moments later, a rumbling thud shakes the tower slightly, one that could only be caused by the stamping foot of the great beast, causing Xander's body to slide a little closer over the edge of the roof. Soon after, Sonia's well carrying voice reaches over the sounds of battle asking, "You okay over there, boss?"

A dozen anxiety fueled smart mouthed comments pop into Xander's mind in answer, the kindest being, "Just peachy," but Xander ended up using the non-committal, "We're fine" to keep from distracting the team any further.

"…This isn't working, my Lord," says Sarah after a long silence.

"Actually, things are working better than I thought," answers Xander in a slightly detached manner. "With fewer people in the front rank, Lin doesn't have to spread her attention out as much. Of course there are fewer people to absorb the hits, but Lin is doing a great job over there."

"No, my Lord. I mean helping me." As she says this, Sarah begins slowly releasing the two handed grip she'd had on Xander's wrist. "I'm slowly pulling you over with me, Lord Xander. I'm only going to get you killed too. Please, let me fall."

Staring directly into Sarah's earnest face and sincere eyes, Xander's surprise can only process one thing. "Sarah, are you a complete idiot?"

Having been fully committed to the seriousness of her request, this insult strikes the young woman hard enough for a hurt expression to appear on her face as she makes a questioning sound in answer.

"Didn't I tell you to stop thinking about killing yourself for my sake before? Were you even listening then? If you still have all this time to think about dying for my sake, then how about you start trying living for my sake?"

Sarah's face inadvertently goes red as she blushes hard at those words, despite the situation she is in. No, maybe even more so because of the high tension position she is in. These words that are said at such a vulnerable time, that could be interpreted that certain way…Could he really be telling her that he…

"Wait a second, I think that came out wrong," back peddles Xander with a cocked head that's reviewing what it's mouth had just said, even as the explosion of one of Castor's fireballs detonates in the background.

"Sarah," says Xander calmly with his full attention focused on making his words clear and meaningful, gazing only at the person they are meant for. "You are no longer a Labyrinth Guard, or a soldier enlisted in the military of Lagaard bound by duty. You are a member of my Guild and are therefore not expendable, or replacable. As far as I'm concerned, you now hold a position as precious as a member of my family. That is what a real guild is. Not a group of professionals, but a family that will never let its members down. If I had been willing to leave you to die, I never would have dived after you in the first place."

"And now that I'm here, you want my last memory of you to be your life slipping through my fingers and watching you plunge hundreds of feet to be broken on the rocks? I wouldn't wish such a traumatizing sight on my worst enemy."

Xander's words start becoming more and more strained, as he is forced to grip harder to make up for Sarah's lessened hold onto his wrist. "And what's more, I don't think you really, nrf, understand what your death would mean. No matter the reason, do you think your mother, or Cass at the Stickleback Bar would be happy to hear you died like this? Do you think anyone around you would be able to keep smiling if you just let yourself die here? If you have all this time to think about how to make your death so meaningful, why not spend it thinking about how to make your life even more meaningful?"

With all these wonderful life affirming words raining down on her, Sarah can't help but feel her determination begin to waver and feel some insight, finally, into the way her lord sees the world around him. But despite all that knowledge that she is absorbing, the one point that stands out is this. "You mean, you remember me?"

Xander gives a strained smile, the muscles in his hand burning and his filth covered hair sticking at odd matted angles, but it somehow seems reassuring. He is smiling because the answer is so obvious that it is ridiculous. "Of course. You're pretty much the only tan girl with blond hair in Lagaard. How could I _not_ remember you?"

At that moment, Xander feels something on his back, and squirms to look at it, hoping it's a helping hand. It is a feather.

The electrical current bolts through Xander's body, through all the limbs with more power than before with both Xander's front and back having been coated in the ever prevalent goo on the rooftops, reducing his skin's natural resistance. As the current shoots through Xander's body, every muscle savagely contracts and some of the electricity passes into Sarah, making her twitch hard and grit her teeth reflexively. As the attack ends and the spasms halt, Sarah feels the grip on her wrist slacken and her body plunge downward. The instant certainty that Xander had lost his hold on her flashes into her mind, immediately chased by the certainty that she really is going to die. In that moment of clear understanding of her own demise, Sarah's heart does not skip a beat, but clamps down so hard and for so long that it physically hurts.

The jerk of Xander's arm reaching it's full length again causes the young man to grunt in renewed pain, his shoulder strained and aching, but at least now Sarah was gripping his wrist properly again. When Xander had been hit by the electricity the convulsion caused all the muscles in his body to contract, hard. As a result, Xander's grip on Sarah's arm had intensified and he had lifted Sarah a couple inches up, and when the electrical attack had ended all those tightened muscles slackened once more. It's only natural for Sarah to have understood it to mean she had been dropped with what her senses had told her. And the experience was truly jarring for the girl who had been prepared to die just a short time ago.

In that moment where death felt like a certainty, she began to remember the faces of all the people she knew. Her mother's face. Mr. Cass who took them in. The other members of her Guard squad. Lady Leene that taught her how to protect others. Her Lord Xander. And she suddenly realizes that she wants to live. Sarah realizes she really cares about these things, that they matter to her. And that she doesn't want to lose what matters to her again.

And for the first time in about ten years Sarah begins crying truly cleansing tears.

Long ago Sarah heard her Lord Xander say that he wanted to protect the smiles of all the people in his kingdom, and she decided that she wanted to help Xander's wish come true. Because she knows what it is like to have happiness stripped away. But Sarah finally understands that she also has to work to protect the happiness of the people around her, and she can't do that if she dies.

Moments pass as Sarah hangs her head, shedding her tears silently and processing this new facet of her life, as she clings to the hope of being saved. Explosions are heard in the background, and the tower shudders again causing Xander's position to slip some more. But Sarah's role right now is just to wait, and hope that she can be protected for the moment, until she can start protecting the people around her again.

And then Sarah feels another hand grip her and she is slowly being lifted up.

Lifted high enough to help out, Sarah grabs the edge of the roof and begins pulling her weight up, with two sets of hands helping her along. The first set belongs to Lord Xander, and the second to Princess Victoria.

"That was a very brave dash you made back there, Victoria," says Xander eloquently, getting back on his feet. "You probably saved us both."

"It was no problem," says the royal maiden happily, also gaining her feet and blushing slightly at the compliment, "Now let's go help the others."

Pulling her sword free of it's scabbard, Victoria smacks Sarah right in the nose with the pommel knocking her to the ground. Worriedly inquiring to Sarah's safety, Victoria quickly steps forward and nearly impales Xander as she does so. Seeing the lethal steel waving about, Sarah quickly grabs the princess' sword hand to stop her from injuring anyone else and notices that the Princess' eyes are unfocused. She quickly calls her Lord Xander's attention to it.

Bending in to inspect Victoria, Xander first notices that Sarah's nose is bleeding and it looks like she had just shed some heavy tears. That blow to the nose must have been pretty painful for Sarah to have had her eyes water like that. Turning to Victoria, Xander hurriedly asks, "Do you know where you are? Do you recognize me?"

Forgetting to answer the first question, Victoria simply says, "Oh, you're the guy from that place, right?" Apparently she currently thinks that is the correct answer. And then Xander feels something hot and sticky under the left hand he had been using to keep Victoia's shoulder and body steady. It's fresh blood.

Quickly stepping behind the princess, Xander sees that her pristine armor has a long and deep gash down its back, and in a similar alignment, a gash down the back of her scalp with blood soaking into her golden hair.

"Lin!" calls Xander across the battlefield. "Victoria's been hit in the head! She's completely disassociated!"

Looking up briefly from patching Albert up again who had been injured trying to stop the princess from dashing off, Lin calls back while Benjamin continues to pull Meregho Saeno's attention. "Oh, that's just the poison on that things claws!" Lin indicates the giant bird with a thumb. "It's mostly benign, so just give it a minute for her body to overcome it. Whoa!" Lin cries out as Sir Benjamin intercepts a sweeping wing meant for Lin.

"Benign, she says," mutters Xander to himself as he leaves Victoria in Sarah's care so the girl does not hurt herself while he goes to retrieve his sword. Giving a sharp tug, the short sword comes free. At least most of it. A generous portion of the blade's point is left wedged between the stones. Xander mutters again. "Wonderful."

On Xander's way back to Sarah and Victoria, the princess becomes lucid again, exclaiming, "Ah? You're Lord Xander's attendant, I'm so happy you're alright. When did you get back up? Hm? Oh, you seem to be bleeding! Here, let me." And so saying, the princess pulls her handkerchief out to shove against Sarah's very tender nose. Batting away the princess' kindness, Sarah tells her lord, "I think she's sane again, Sir. But don't hold me to that."

"Alright, good," says Xander as he passes Sarah back her dropped spear. "Because I have a crazy idea."

# # # # #

Sonia has fired off just about all of her heaviest ammo and only has regular bolts remaining, but even so, she's not disappointed with her damage. Though the Zodiac had been satisfied with just striking the target with his star magic until ordered by the boss to actually aim, Sonia takes pride in hitting big nasties where it hurts, even if it means manufacturing a weak spot on her own. Ballistics are like darts in the Labyrinth, it's all about the grouping.

With a loud chunk sound, the next bolt strikes the overgrown chicken and finally one of them sticks. Literally. Right between two ribs that Sonia had been working to get exposed for a while now. Her partner in the back rank pays no attention to it as he's wholly engrossed in enjoying a cold drink in the middle of a fight. Sonia can't blame him though since the guy looks like crap. Apparently that metal get up of his that lets the guy interact with stars produces a lot of heat with each use, and now the pale faced bastard is even paler and is covered in sweat. Even so, he's still stone cold and just as unpleasant.

Doesn't help that the guy is practically a mute. People who don't talk much are suppose to be easy to get along with, but everything he _does_ say is unpleasant enough that you get the feeling the time he doesn't spend talking is dedicated to thinking just how inferior everyone else is. Makes one wonder who they should really be shooting at, thinks Sonia as she readies another bolt.

As the Arbalist brings her weapon to bear again, she sees something very curious. The big red bird has had all of it's attention on the side of the tower that knight serving the princess is on, since he's been baiting it enough. The thing didn't even give the princess more than one swipe when she charged past it. So that means the big bird had it's back to boss Xander and the other two. Sonia had kind of wondered what they would do once they got back into the fight, but she hadn't expected what those three actually did.

All three of them, without even shouting to get their blood boiling, just ran right up behind the leg of the bird and body slammed it in the back of the knee with their shields. "Ballsy," remarks the Arbalist aloud.

Sonia's attitude shifts from slight admiration to excitement as she sees the bird's knee bend from the unexpected force and throw the big thing off balance. She also hears her boss shout the order, "Hit the other knee, Albert!" and the reply, "Don't order me around, greenhorn!" as the giant mace swings around behind the knee using the opening the loss of balance caused. With that the big bird drops forward onto both it's knees almost like it was a bad dance move, giving Sonia a new, and really, a perfect angle for her next shot.

With a smiling quip of, "It must be my birthday," Sonia fires off what she suspects will be her final bolt for the fight. Striking at an upward angle on the other side of the ribcage, between the same two ribs as before, the flesh between them splits apart as the ribs break, opening a hole into the chest cavity. Turning to look at the Zodiac, Sonia says with a cocky grin, "Made a little hole for ya. I can make it bigger if ya need it."

As cool as stone, Castor replies, "It's adequate." Even though he's a jerk that likes big words, his aim is dead on. The Zodiac is restricted to placing his shots where his laser guided tracking falls on the enemy. But now that the laser is pointing inside the enemy's body?

A moment later the Fire Star's attack explodes, the effect devastating inside the confined space of Meregho Saeno's chest. A gout of flame blasts more of the rib cage open and even spouts out through the creature's mouth. Stunned now as well as off balance, the creature slowly falls backward. Recollecting itself, the beast starts swinging it's wings to regain it's balance as it nears the tipping point of falling over the ledge. A screech of confused rage bellows as the great monster realizes that it is not getting nearly the amount of lift it should be from it's heavily trimmed wings and falls over the side of the lighthouse tower.

Dashing over to make sure the beast is done for, the expanded party sees the lengthy fall of the century old predator. They see it strike bloodily against the sharp cliffs of the shore. And then submerge into a crimson colored pool in the depths of the ocean. And they see that it does not resurface.

Inwardly, Sarah is now even more delighted to have been saved from that same fall earlier.

And finally, after many minutes of watching the sea to make sure the creature does not emerge, a small laugh can be heard from the crowd of explorers. The laugh slowly gains volume and others join in until everyone except the haughty Zodiac is laughing their hearts out.

They're alive.

_Day 9 - Emperor 9__th__ ~ At Sea_

_Entry 3:_

_We won. We survived. I can't think of a more welcome entry to be making right now. Every goal we could have wished to fulfill in this voyage has been, with the exception of Kirikaze's mission to find some item of great rarity, but it seems the woman is not daunted by this set back and said something about other potential gifts._

_Castor is very pleased with the outcome, though. Well, for him. He decided to stay behind with his equipment to study his magic stars for a while longer and to head back to Armoroad on one of the military vessels that will be coming shortly to officially take back control of the island. After all, how could they refuse to give a ride to one of the warriors that retook the lighthouse? I can easily see them doing so, but then I am not so…self-assured as the Zodiac._

_I can't help but feel bad for the man's brother._

_As far as injuries go, we have no major reports. Lin was able to wake Yuriko up quickly, saying something about reducing some swelling and then giving a Qi massage down Yuriko's back to treat the impact point of Meregho Saeno's flash attack. While Pollux gave emergency treatment, Lin seemed to deem it inefficient and continued on her own merit._

_The wound Victoria suffered has also been treated properly by Lin, and she has given assurances that there will not even be a scar. That is reassuring as I was able to see the white of bone in the wound. I was also worried about the danger that Princess Victoria would grow squeamish of combat after being injured in such a way during her first real fight, but apparently Victoria was not even aware of being injured until it was pointed out to her. She even remarked that she had wondered what that odd tingling was. That girl has a surprising amount of resilience in her, and I think she will finally force her bodyguards to start teaching her to protect herself properly._

_I also had an opportunity to speak with Sarah. She actually apologized to me. She said she was sorry for not understanding her lord's (my) feelings on the matter of the value of her life. And she said something else that I thought was odd. She said that she had no idea how delicate a dream could be, and that from now on she will treasure her own life with equal value as her loyalty to me. I'm not quite sure what she meant, but Sarah seemed happy. Perhaps for the first time, I saw what I can only call a content smile on her face._

_She should smile more often._

_As far as physical rewards, I would say we have achieved some of that as well. Not only was Albert able to break an entire claw off the giant beast that will most certainly get a good price from Edie, Lin made a very nice discovery. One of the trees that had been used in Maregho Saeno's nest seems special. Lin claimed she could feel living Qi inside the wood and identified it as a special 100 year old tree of great rarity. Apparently the wood from it is capable of very impressive things. I immediately sent for Lesko from the ship to harvest as much of this wood as possible._

_And as for the combat engineers that met up with us halfway back down the lighthouse… Well, I told them that they could swim back to Armoroad._

The Harbormaster had been overjoyed at the retaking of the lighthouse, and had only let the explorers go after a profuse thanks in order to begin the renovation of the Virtus for future exploration, otherwise the congratulations would have taken quite a while. He seems rather long winded for a sailor, and he seems to think Guild Aequitas has real potential.

Walking along the docks as the sun begins to set, the various explorer groups begin saying goodbye to one another.

Kirikaze and Yuriko went off on their own, where the elder ninja wished the younger luck with her surrogate family before disappearing into the night so stealthily that even Yuriko couldn't track her, leaving a gift in the place she had been standing in before.

Sir Benjamin took particular interest in saying his farewells to Sonia and invited the "lady" to join him some time to get to know each other better. With half a sneer, Sonia said that she only accepted such transparent guys as drinking buddies. And only if they buy the drinks.

Albert got Lin alone after she completely tripped all over herself saying goodbye to Reif and thanked her. Though Lin wasn't sure why she should be thanked, Albert insisted that he owed her his life and gave her one of his old maces to repay the debt, seeing as the girl was swinging around a piece of wood for a weapon. He also pointedly remarked that Lin was the _only_ member of the guild he owed a debt to.

Xander and Victoria ended up paired off as they slowly walked back to the city.

"I really must thank you again, Lord Xander," says the princess formally. "I was quite annoyed at the time, but what you did on the boat has really opened my eyes."

"No, I'm the one that is in _your_ debt. You saved two lives today and helped us finish the monster we were sent to slay."

"Which I never would have done if you hadn't beaten some sense into me," says the girl with a wide smile despite the words she chose. "You said before that sometimes I will only be able to save lives if I take action personally. If you hadn't have said that I may not have moved on my own, and perhaps ordered Benjamin or Albert to go help you… Which may have been disastrous for the front rank. I realized that since I was the only one not really fighting, that I was the only one that could be spared." The princess' look of melancholy at the realization of her limits ruins her uplifted mood and removes her smile.

"At least you realized the position you were in before you returned home. This way you can work to improve yourself, and surprise your family with a much more capable Heir than they expected. But now that the trial is complete I assume you will be returning soon?"

For some reason Victoria hesitated before saying, "I don't think I will be going back. Not yet." In response to Lord Xander's questioning look, the princess continues. "While the trial is technically over, in reality it ends once I am satisfied that I have proven myself." The princess' eyes begin blazing with the fiery virtue that they had held at the breakfast table that morning as she says, "Thanks to all of you, we were able to defeat the monster! However, my battle has only just begun! From now on, my opponents are not just the beasts of the Labyrinth and the monsters of this sea. I will also be fighting against myself and my own weaknesses. And I will be striving to become an even better ruler than you, Lord Xander."

A strange glint appears in the girl's eye with that last line, as if she were looking at a person she admired yet refused to lose to. One that she has recognized as a goal to reach that lights the fires of ambition in her blood. With an amused smile, Xander stops, turns and politely takes the lady's hand to give his best courtly bow under a sky of deep violet, shining gold, and burning crimson.

"I look forward to being your friend and your competition, Princess Victoria."

Returning with her most graceful one handed curtsy, as if they were in a royal ballroom, Victory replies, "And I, you, Lord Xander."

_**End Chapter 6**_


	8. Interlude

Hello everyone. I hope you are all not too angry at me for my lack of updates, but I have goodies this time.

First, Intrepid Explorations is not dead. I've just been having some trouble with another experiment in writing, describing music, and that ended up putting the new chapter on a back burner for a while.

Seriously. I have to go back and rewrite an entire section.

But in the mean time, I accidentally thought of "What If" in terms of the new Star Wars MMO, The Old Republic, and BAM! Two new series of short stories have appeared. Since each one will be running about 7 chapters, I plan to finish them off before I get back into the long haul that is Etrian Odyssey 3. You can check them out by copying the links provided to the end of the regular .net for this site.

On The Ground:

/s/8032171/1/On_The_Ground

The Independent Transporter:

/s/8030905/1/The_Independent_Transporter

The first involves Troopers, soldiers and their lives / personalities while caught in that unreal environment called "war."

The second involves that special kind of bastard known as a "smuggler." He never fails to put a smile on my face whenever I reread the chapters.

Updates for these two are ongoing, so please subscribe to them and leave your feedback.


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